Blog
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My Week with ChatGPT
Everyone’s talking about ChatGPT. If you haven’t used it yourself, then you’ve probably seen lots of screenshots on social media. Or maybe you’ve had a friend or family member (like me) talk about it nonstop. I’ve indeed spent a lot of time playing with ChatGPT. I’ve gotten it to do some wild and fun things,…
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Improve your Python skills — at 40% off
Python has never been hotter. It’s a skill that everyone can use to improve their career — to improve your current job, or to get a great new job. So it’s a good idea to learn Python. Or if you already know it, it’s a good idea to improve your skills, to sharpen your understanding.…
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Level up your career with PythonDAB — the Python Data Analytics Bootcamp
The economy has been feeling a bit shaky as of late, with lots of layoffs, shakeups, and general uncertainty about what’s coming next. With the right skills, you need not be too nervous. That’s because companies are always interested in people who can help them to create new products, understand and improve the ones they’re…
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Upcoming Python/Pandas courses for seasoned coders
Python and Pandas can improve your career. I say this all the time, partly because it’s my job (as a Python/Pandas trainer), and partly because I’ve seen how people’s lives and careers can improve with this knowledge. But what if you’re already familiar with Python and Pandas? The good news (and bad news, for that…
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Lots of new YouTube videos about Python and Pandas!
I’ve been blogging a lot less lately, in part because I’ve been writing more on Twitter and recording more YouTube videos. Among those YouTube videos are: Intro to Python exceptions, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilJfD65d-2Q “for” loops vs list comprehensions, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY8lD_fk0r4 Understanding the “if __name__ == ‘__main__’” line in Python modules: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf3vENkPKj8 All about Python identifiers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTxLVMFkbT8 Peeking at…
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How to propose a winning conference talk
[This blog post is taken from my “Trainer Weekly” newsletter, all about the business, logistics, and pedagogy of corporate training. Given that PyCon US 2023 just opened its call for participation, I thought that this would help people interested in proposing a talk. Bottom line: Go for it!] If you’re a trainer, then your job…
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Announcing PythonDAB: The course I’ve always wanted to teach
I spend each day teaching Python and data science to companies around the world. From “Python for non-programmers” to day-long advanced workshops, I earn my living by helping people to improve their skills — which is great for their own careers, and great for the organizations where they currently work. However much I love teaching…
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The “why” of object-oriented programming (in Python)
When I ask people — in my corporate training, or when they join my “Better developers” newsletter — what frustrations they have with Python, many people say that it’s object-oriented programming. Even if they have a decent background in procedural (i.e., traditional, non-OO) development, objects confuse and surprise them. That’s a shame, because the whole…
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Save time — and 30% — with my 25 Python, Git, and data science courses!
It’s that time of year — Black Friday, when everything goes on sale. At my online store, with more than 25 courses about Python, data science, Git, and regular expressions, I’m giving 30% off of the usual price. Here’s what some students have said about my courses: “This is by far the most amazing Python course I…
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Stop fearing Python decorators
If I mention “decorators,” even if you’ve been programming with Python for a while, what comes to mind? To many, decorators are mysterious and powerful — and beyond the reach of mere mortals. Their @ signs pop up in all sorts of places, from “pytest” to Flask to properties… but it’s not really clear what…