The Real Python Podcast

Dan Bader, a Python educator and leader at Real Python, returns to share exciting updates about realpython.com. He elaborates on a new Python reference area designed for quick definitions and easy access to resources. Dan unveils the expansion of live cohort courses aimed at both beginners and intermediate learners, emphasizing practical projects and community support. He also discusses the importance of feedback, ongoing editorial standards, and team growth to enhance the learning experience for Python enthusiasts.

In this discussion, Christopher Trudeau, a Python developer and curator for PyCoder's Weekly, shares insights on the concept of speed in programming. He highlights the inefficiencies that developers face when obsessing over performance metrics without context. The duo also dives into the impressive speed of the uv library due to thoughtful engineering. Trudeau breaks down why Python's deepcopy can slow you down and discusses essential Python performance numbers. Lastly, they tackle spec-driven development and its relevance in today's programming landscape.

Stephen Gruppetta, an instructor specializing in beginner Python education, shares insights on evolving teaching methods. He emphasizes introducing mini-projects early to foster practical skills. Participants Louis, using Python for hydrology, and Andrew, with a background in Fortran and SQL, discuss their journeys. They reflect on overcoming initial struggles with coding and the importance of understanding fundamentals. Cohort accountability boosts their confidence, enabling them to tackle real-world projects and automate tasks in their careers.

In this insightful session, Christopher Trudeau, a frequent contributor and Python enthusiast, breaks down the highlights from PyCoder’s Weekly in 2025. They discuss the exciting release of Django 6.0, compare Django and FastAPI, and delve into the practicality of using Loguru for logging. Christopher reveals hidden gems, including data validation libraries for Polars, and shares reflections on top trends in Python tooling and web development. Plus, a spotlight on functional programming offers a fresh perspective for coders!

Marc Brooker, VP and Distinguished Engineer at AWS, delves into the world of spec-driven development versus vibe coding. He explains how writing specifications upfront can enhance collaboration and reduce errors. The conversation touches on declarative programming, highlighting its advantages over traditional methods. Marc also introduces Kiro, Amazon's new IDE designed to translate prompts into structured requirements. Learn how clear documentation and iterative updates can empower developers and improve project alignment.

Negar Vahid, a computational science and engineering researcher and Real Python author, shares her insights on quantum computing and Python tools. She delves into qubits, superposition, and entanglement while explaining quantum advantage and potential applications in drug design and finance. Negar discusses her role in promoting Qiskit and highlights the importance of linear algebra for quantum programming. Listeners also discover how quantum computing intersects with high-performance computing and the challenges of error mitigation in quantum hardware.

Christopher Trudeau, a frequent contributor to PyCoder's Weekly and Python community commentator, shares insights about building FastAPI applications. He discusses a hands-on tutorial that covers installing FastAPI, creating endpoints, and using Pydantic for validation. Trudeau also delves into Python concurrency, explaining threading, asyncio, and multiprocessing along with practical examples. Other topics include performance tricks for faster Python code and a nifty project that turns functions into web interfaces.

Khuyen Tran, an author and data science practitioner from CodeCut, shares her insights on preparing Python projects for production. She discusses her journey into blogging and the motivation behind her book, "Production Ready Data Science." Key topics include common pitfalls of notebooks and the importance of reproducible workflows. Khuyen advocates for using modular coding practices and the benefits of tools like Polars and marimo notebooks for efficiency. She also emphasizes the significance of version control and proper testing in data science projects.

Christopher Trudeau, a key contributor to PyCoder’s Weekly, shares his insights on writing maintainable Python code. He delves into techniques for creating comments, meaningful names, and avoiding magic numbers. The discussion emphasizes the Single Responsibility Principle and promoting readability, while preparing code for future transformations. Additionally, Trudeau highlights innovations in the Python community, including comparisons between Polars and pandas, generating realistic test data, and the GUI toolkit, buttonpad for creating interactive applications.

Michael Kennedy, the creator of the Talk Python podcast and author of 'Talk Python in Production,' shares his expertise on deploying Python applications with autonomy. He covers how to avoid costly cloud lock-ins and discusses the benefits of using containerization and a single powerful VM for managing multiple applications. Michael also emphasizes the importance of opting for stack-native solutions over cloud-native complexities, and he reveals practical strategies for low latency and simple hosting setups. Tune in for insights that can elevate your Python deployment skills!