Python Software Development

This guide is for you if you are writing programs with more than 500 lines.

You know how to write Python code, but have realized that creating a piece of software is more complex. You are facing questions like:

• How to clean up my code?
• How to make sure my program works?
• How to install my program on multiple computers?
• How to keep the program running over time?
• How to deliver the program to other people?

Below you find development tools and techniques that help you to write programs that get the job done and don't fall apart.

• Editors
• PEP8 Code Style
• Version Control
• Environment Variables
• Installing packages with pip
• Virtual Environments
• Documentation Tools

• Coding Strategies
• Debugging

• Counting Lines of Code
• Technical Debt
• Refactoring
• CRC Cards
• Project Templates

• Impostor Syndrome
• Project Management
• User Stories
• Code Reviews
• How to work with legacy code?
• How to recognize good scientific software?
• Citable Code

• Exercises

We are two Python software engineers who decided to write down our experience resulting from our Python projects in life science, web development and teaching.

© 2020 Kristian Rother and Magdalena Rother

This text is released under the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike License 4.0.