New Year’s Python Meme – #2012pythonmeme

I was reading the Python blog feed yesterday and stumbled on Tarek Ziade’s Python Meme article. I thought it sounded like a fun idea, so here’s my answers to his questions.

1. What’s the coolest Python application, framework or library you have discovered in 2011?

I can’t think of anything new that I’ve really used this year. However, this was the year that I started using the ObjectListView widget in wxPython pretty extensively. It’s a great wrapper around the wx.ListCtrl that just makes it super easy to use. This is also the year that I started working on a big TurboGears 2 project, but I haven’t decided if it’s my favorite yet.

2. What new programming technique did you learn in 2011?

Lately I’ve taken to keeping my code more organized and structured than I have in the past, splitting my components into different modules, refactoring a lot more, trying to follow the Model-View-Controller schema more, etc. I have also started using Mercurial source control and BitBucket much more this year. I’m still not an expert in using them, but I know enough to keep my source mostly safe.

3. What’s the name of the open source project you contributed the most in 2011? What did you do?

wxPython. I write a lot of documentation for it on my wiki and I help lots of people with understanding it on the wxPython mailing list and on StackOverflow.

4. What was the Python blog or website you read the most in 2011?

Umm, this is a tough one. I read Tim Golden’s a lot with a dash of Jesse Noller and Doug Hellman. I like David Beazley too, but he doesn’t write much.

5. What are the three top things you want to learn in 2012?

I need to get a better handle on Mercurial branching and merging. Learning more TurboGears and maybe another Python web framework. Testing (I know some, but not enough, especially as related to GUIs).

6. What are the top software, app or lib you wish someone would write in 2012?

I wish there was a better eBay wrapper. I’d like to write my own sniper script. Another nice one would be some kind of all-in-one script that could create my bit.ly link for my blog post and then submit it to the various major tech sites for me.

Want to do your own list? here’s how:

• copy-paste the questions and answer to them in your blog
• tweet it with the #2012pythonmeme hashtag