Python is a very flexible programming language. Its dynamic nature allows programmers to code elegant solutions that almost impossible to make with other more strict languages, for example, Java. However, you have to pay for everything. While Python code base grows, it requires more and more efforts to keep project integrity. Without these extra efforts, the project will fall apart.

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A couple of weeks ago one of my colleagues ask if Python function is possible to use as a key in dicts? Yes, it is. So, every function has a hash. But how is it calculated? Based on function name? Based on function byte code? Actually, it calculates by transforming a pointer to a function object. However, it is not so easy to find it in the CPython code.

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Personal branding isn't a thing that is discussed much in a programming world. Actually, I know very few guys who have strong personal brands and only two guys who can explain what personal branding is for software developers. One of them is Frederic Harper with his book “Success in Programming.”

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For me, the main advantage of "Data Structures and Algorithms in Java" is the language author uses to describe algorithms. He doesn't use overcomplicated academic language with tons of math. No. Robert uses plain English and tries to give an as simple explanation of an algorithm as possible.

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You are lucky if you need to use standard English keyboard layout only. I use Russian layout as often as English one. Everywhere hot-keys work OK, except Emacs. Maybe because it has an ASCII-is-enough-for-everybody legacy or other reasons, Emacs uses own weird way to switch layouts (or Input Method in Emacs terms): C-\. Instead of using that "standard" way I found another option.

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It looks obvious that you can override the property in a child class, and call "super" within it. Sounds OK? Yes, it is. However, when my colleague asked me about this behavior, I was confused. Maybe because I am a bit suspicious, every time I saw a magic thing of any kind in a code I expect a trap. What's why I decided to write a simple example to prove myself that it works as it should.

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It can be painful to manage several Python versions on one laptop. However, it is a very common situation. Usually, developers have many projects that require different Python versions. There are a couple of variants to deal with it. My favourite is pyenv with virtualenv plugin. I used to use Homebrew itself to do that, but it wasn't so flexible.

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Big Data is a kind of buzzword nowadays. However, it looks that having skills in it can make a huge influence on a programming career. At least, it's true for me. That's why this list appears. It's a unsorted and unfiltered bunch of resources covered "Big Data" topic.

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When I started reading "Soft Skills" by John Sonmez, I didn't know what to expect from it. On the one hand, as software engineers, we think that writing beauty code is much more important than knowledge of how to promote and market ourselves. And it is true. Although, It is extremely hard to find an interesting project without marketing and self-promotion. I doubted that someone could explain this thing to developers. I can't say that John does it ideally, but he does it quite well.

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There are a lot of massive open online courses (MOOCs) today. Some of them are free, other paid. Such courses were all hype couple years ago. Now when we all come down to earth, there are some questions about that courses: how to add them to my education plan and how to choose the best one.

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