Every once in a while, I run into a situation where I need dummy data to test my code against. If you need to do tests on a new database or table, you will run into the need for dummy data often. I recently came across an interesting package called Faker. Faker’s sole purpose is […]
Python: Create Fake Data with Faker Read More »
Recently I ran into an issue where an application that calls Python would insert int into Python’s namespace, which overwrites Python’s built-in int function. Since I have to use the tool and I needed to use Python’s int function, I needed a way around this annoyance. Fortunately, this is fairly easy to fix. All you
Working Around Shadowed Functions Read More »
My first book, Python 101 has been published today. You can buy it directly from my blog which will get you a PDF, EPUB and MOBI version of the book. You can also purchase a softcover edition of the book via Lulu. Finally, I have published the eBook to Amazon. If you happen to run
Python 101 Book Published Today! Read More »
Python 101, the book I am authoring is nearly finished. I had a couple of “proof” copies produced by Lulu to verify things were laying out correctly and to help me find mistakes. Seeing it in print is pretty cool. It also made some oversights pretty obvious, although they’re all cosmetic in nature. Anyway, right
Python 101 Book Writing Update Read More »
This contest is over! Packt Publishing has partnered with my blog to give away 2 copies of their ebook version of Mastering Object-oriented Python by Steven Lott. You can read my full book review here, but frankly, I thought it was one of best advanced Python books I’ve read in a long time. It’s also
eBook Contest: Win a Free Copy of Mastering Object-oriented Python Read More »
Packt Publishing asked me to be a technical reviewer for one of their latest Python books, Mastering Object-Oriented Python by Steven Lott. This book is a sequel of sorts to their 2010 release, Python 3 Object Oriented Programming by Dusty Phillips, which I reviewed here. Note: This book is explicitly for Python 3 developers and
Book Review: Mastering Object-Oriented Python Read More »
Kivy is a neat package that allows Python developers to create user interfaces on mobile devices. You can also deploy the applications to desktops too. This is the second book I’ve seen put out on the subject. The first book, Kivy – Interactive Applications in Python by Roberto Ulloa came out last year from Packt
eBook Review: Creating Apps in Kivy Read More »
Last month we looked at how to create Microsoft Excel (i.e. *.xls) files using the xlwt package. Today we will be looking at how we can read an *.xls/*.xlsx file using a package called xlrd. The xlrd package can be run on Linux and Mac as well as Windows. This is great when you need
Reading Excel Spreadsheets with Python and xlrd Read More »
Reportlab recently released version 3.1 which now fully supports Python 3 and Python 2.7. They had actually released a Python 3 compatible version about a month or so ago, but this one sounds like they’ve worked the bugs out of that initial release as this version also supports their commercial customers. I find this exciting
Reportlab for Python 3 is here! Read More »
If you’re like me, you missed PyCon North America 2014 this year. It happened last weekend. While the main conference days are over, the code sprints are still running. Anyway, for those of you who missed PyCon, they have released a bunch of videos on pyvideo! Every year, they seem to get the videos out
Miss PyCon 2014? Watch the Replay! Read More »
PyCon US / Canada (North America?) is starting this week and in honor of my favorite conference, I am having a pre-order sale for my book, Python 101. From now through April 17th, you can get $7 off (almost 50%) of Python 101. Just enter the following code at checkout: pycon2014
PyCon US Discount for Python 101 Read More »
I just wanted to drop a quick note that the Python 101 book is now available for Pre-order here. Currently you will receive the draft versions of the book as they become available. Right now, Parts I and II have been released which amounts to approx. 115 pages of content. You can read more about
Python 101 Book is Available for Pre-order Read More »
When you’re first starting out as a Python programmer, you don’t think about how you might need to install an external package or module. But when that need appears, you’ll want to know how to in a hurry! Python packages can be found all over the internet. Most of the popular ones can be found
Python 101 – Installing Packages Read More »
The lxml.objectify sub-package is extremely handy for parsing and creating XML. In this article, we will show how to create XML using the lxml package. We’ll start with some simple XML and then try to replicate it. Let’s get started!
Python: Creating XML with lxml.objectify Read More »
There are a couple of ways to create Microsoft Excel spreadsheets with Python. You can use PyWin32’s win32com.client method, which was discussed in an old article a number of years ago or you could use the xlwt package. We’ll be looking at the latter in this article. You will learn how to create an Excel
Creating Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets with Python and xlwt Read More »