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Python Best Practices – Every Python Developer Must Know

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Like any other language or tool, Python has some best practices to follow before, during, and after the process of writing your code. These make the code readable and create a standard across the industry.

Learn what are the Python Coding Best Practices that you must follow to write cleaner and more professional code.

Python Coding Practices for Python Developers

So, here come some important best practices for Python Coding that you should always keep in mind.

1. Create a Code Repository and Implement Version Control

If you have ever been on GitHub, you must have noticed that a regular project’s structure looks like this:

docs/conf.py
docs/index.rst
module/__init__.py
module/core.py
tests/core.py
LICENSE
README.rst
requirements.txt
setup.py

When you start a new python project, you can create a code repository and implement version control.

GitHub is one provider of this, but you can use any other.

Let’s talk about the structure of a project.

Structure of the Python Project:

License

This is in the root directory and is where you should add a license for your project. Some licenses are:

README

This is in the root directory too and is where you describe your project and what it does.

You can write this in Markdown, reStructuredText, or plain text.

Module Code

This holds your actual code that may be inside a subdirectory or inside root.

requirements.txt

This is not mandatory, but if you use this, you put it in the root directory.

Here, you mention the modules and dependencies of the project- the things it will not run without.

setup.py

This script in the root lets distutils build and distribute modules needed by the project.

Documentation

Readable documentation is essential. This is placed in the docs directory.

Tests

Most projects have tests- keep these in the tests directory.

Before you move ahead in this Python best practices article, I want to share the Python master guide with you. Learn all the concepts through a single guide. 

2. Create Readable Documentation

So, next in python best practices is readable documentation. You may find it burdensome, but it creates clean code.

For this, you can use Markdown, reStructuredText, Sphinx, or docstrings.

3. Follow Style Guidelines

The PEP8 holds some great community-generated proposals.

PEP stands for Python Enhancement Proposals- these are guidelines and standards for development. This is to make sure all Python code looks and feels the same.

One such guideline is to name classes with the CapWords convention.

4. Correct Broken Code Immediately

Like with the broken code theory, correct your broken code immediately. If you let it be while you work on something else, it can lead to worse problems later.

This is what Microsoft does. It once had a terrible production cycle with MS Word’s first version.

So now, it follows a ‘zero defects methodology’, and always corrects bugs and defects before proceeding.

5. Use the PyPI Instead of Doing it Yourself

One of the reasons behind Python’s popularity is the PyPI- this is the Python Package Index; it has more than 198,190 projects at the time of writing.

You should use code from this instead of writing it yourself- this saves time and lets you focus on the more important things.

Install these using pip. You can also create and upload your own package here.

6. The Zen of Python

Tim Peters wrote this short poem to express what values you should follow while coding in Python.

You can get this by running “import this” in the IDLE:

>>> import this

The Zen of Python, by Tim Peters

Beautiful is better than ugly.
Explicit is better than implicit.
Simple is better than complex.
Complex is better than complicated.
Flat is better than nested.
Sparse is better than dense.
Readability counts.
Special cases aren’t special enough to break the rules.
Although practicality beats purity.
Errors should never pass silently.
Unless explicitly silenced.
In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess.
There should be one– and preferably only one –obvious way to do it.
Although that way may not be obvious at first unless you’re Dutch.
Now is better than never.
Although never is often better than *right* now.
If the implementation is hard to explain, it’s a bad idea.
If the implementation is easy to explain, it may be a good idea.
Namespaces are one honking great idea — let’s do more of those!

7. Use the Right Data Structures

Know the benefits and limitations of different data structures, and choose the right one while Coding in Python.

8. Write Readable Code

9. Use Virtual Environments

You should create a virtual environment for each project you create.

This will avoid any library clashes, since different projects may need different versions of a certain library.

10. Write Object-Oriented Code

Python is an object-oriented language, and everything in Python is an object. You should use the object-oriented paradigm if writing code for Python.

This has the advantages of data hiding and modularity. It allows reusability, modularity, polymorphism, data encapsulation, and inheritance.

11. What Not to Do while Programming in Python

Python Interview Questions on Best Practices for Python Coding

  1. What is the use of PyPI?
  2. What is the best way to write Variables in Python?
  3. Why writing Readable code is Important?
  4. What are some of the things you should avoid while Programming in Python?
  5. Why should you create a separate virtual environment for every project?

Summary

This was all about the Python Best Practices to follow while Programming in Python.

Let us know in the comments any other Best Practices that you follow while Coding in Python.

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