Discovering Book Recommendations and Interactive Data Apps

How can you simplify the management of your Python projects with one file? What are the advantages of using LazyFrames in Polars? Christopher Trudeau is back on the show this week, bringing another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects.

We share a recent Real Python tutorial by Ian Currie about managing projects with a pyproject.toml file. This file simplifies Python project configuration by unifying package setup, managing dependencies, and streamlining builds.

Christopher continues his exploration of the Polars library by covering another Real Python tutorial about working with LazyFrames. He describes how LazyFrames don’t contain data but instead store a set of instructions known as a query plan.

We also share several other articles and projects from the Python community, including a news roundup, building a to-do app with Python and Kivy, working with DuckDB directly instead of using a DataFrame library, a discussion on fiction and nonfiction books about computer science, a terminal visual effects engine, and a full-stack platform for interactive data apps.

Topics:

• 00:00:00 – Introduction
• 00:02:00 – Happy Pi Day!
• 00:02:15 – Follow-up: Is BDD Dying?
• 00:03:32 – Django security releases issued: 5.1.7, 5.0.13 and 4.2.20
• 00:04:01 – Django 5.2 Beta 1 Released
• 00:04:11 – DjangoCon Africa Aug 2025 CFP
• 00:04:29 – Launching the PyCon US 2025 Schedule
• 00:04:48 – PyPy v7.3.19 Release
• 00:05:06 – Poetry 2.0.0 Released
• 00:05:34 – How to Manage Python Projects With pyproject.toml
• 00:12:10 – Build a To-Do App With Python and Kivy
• 00:16:22 – Mastering DuckDB When You’re Used to pandas or Polars
• 00:21:08 – Video Course Spotlight
• 00:22:42 – How to Work With Polars LazyFrames
• 00:27:41 – Fiction/Non-Fiction Books on the Topic of CS?
• 00:42:28 – preswald: Full-Stack Platform for Interactive Data Apps
• 00:45:52 – terminaltexteffects: Terminal Visual Effects Engine
• 00:47:59 – Thanks and goodbye

Follow-up:

• Episode #239: Behavior-Driven vs Test-Driven Development & Using Regex in Python
• Is BDD Dying? - Automation Panda

News:

• Django security releases issued: 5.1.7, 5.0.13 and 4.2.20 | Weblog | Django
• Django 5.2 Beta 1 Released
• DjangoCon Africa Aug 2025, Arusha, Tanzania, (Call for Proposals)
• Launching the PyCon US 2025 Schedule – This post summarizes the schedule for PyConUS, including a summary of the keynote speakers, and updates on conference swag.
• PyPy v7.3.19 Release
• Poetry 2.0.0 Released

Show Links:

• How to Manage Python Projects With pyproject.toml – Learn how to manage Python projects with the pyproject.toml configuration file. In this tutorial, you’ll explore key use cases of the pyproject.toml file, including configuring your build, installing your package locally, managing dependencies, and publishing your package to PyPI.
• Build a To-Do App With Python and Kivy – “In this tutorial, you’ll go through a series of steps to build a basic To-Do app with Python, SQLite, and Kivy.”
• Mastering DuckDB When You’re Used to pandas or Polars – Why use DuckDB / SQL at all if you’re used to DataFrames? This article makes the case for some reasons why, and shows how to perform some operations which in DataFrames are basic but in SQL aren’t necessarily obvious.
• How to Work With Polars LazyFrames – In this tutorial, you’ll gain an understanding of the principles behind Polars LazyFrames. You’ll also learn why using LazyFrames is often the preferred option over more traditional DataFrames.

Discussion:

• Fiction/Non-Fiction Books on the Topic of CS?
• Christopher Trudeau’s most recommended books (picked by super fans)
• ctrudeau - LibraryThing

Project:

• preswald: Full-Stack Platform for Interactive Data Apps
• terminaltexteffects: Terminal Visual Effects Engine

Additional Links:

• Pi Day - Celebrate Mathematics on March 14th
• What’s new in Python 3.14 — Python 3.14.0a5 documentation
• Mark Litwintschik - Tech Blog
• Episode #224: Narwhals: Expanding DataFrame Compatibility Between Libraries
• Working With Python Polars - Video Course
• How to Deal With Missing Data in Polars – Tutorial
• Book Review: The Little Schemer - The Invent with Python Blog

Books Mentioned by Mr. Trudeau:

• “The Cuckoo’s Egg” by Clifford Stoll
• “Mythical Man Month” by Frederick Brooks
• “Phoenix Project” by Gene Kim
• “Dreaming in Code” by Scott Rosenberg
• “Digital Fortress” by Dan Brown
• “Godel Escher, Bach” by Douglas Hofstadlter
• “A Philosophy of Software Design” by John Ousterhout’s
• “I Hate The Internet” by Jarret Kobek
• “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson
• “Automate the Boring Stuff with Python” by Al Sweigart
• “Django In Action” by Christopher Trudeau
• “Refactoring Databases” by Scott W Ambler and Pramod J Sadalage
• “The C Programming Language” by Dennis M. Ritchie and Brian W. Kernighan
• “Open Source Licensing” by Lawrence Rosen
• “The Quick Python Book” by Naomi R. Ceder
• “Learn to Code By Solving Problems: A Python Programming Primer” by Daniel Zingaro
• “Python Automation Cookbook” by Jaime Buelta

Books Mentioned by Mr. Bailey:

• “The Little Schemer” by Daniel P. Friedman
• “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert M. Pirsig
• “Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work” by Matthew B. Crawford
• “Django for Beginners, APIs, and Professionals” by William S. Vincent
• “Python Crash Course” by Eric Matthes
• “Automate the Boring Stuff With Python” by Al Sweigart
• “Fluent Python” by Luciano Ramalho
• “Practices of the Python Pro” by Dane Hillard
• “Daemon and Freedom™” by Daniel Suarez

Level up your Python skills with our expert-led courses:

• Everyday Project Packaging With pyproject.toml
• Working With Python Polars
• Publishing Python Packages to PyPI

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