Python Software Development

What this guide is about?

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.

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Getting Started

• Start with a Prototype
• Set up a Git Repository
• Create a Folder Structure
• Create Issues on GitHub

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Planning and Design

• Define an Interface
• Class Diagrams
• User Stories
• CRC Cards

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Packaging and Maintenance

• Virtual Environments
• Installing packages with pip
• Create a pip-installable Package
• Continuous Integration

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Coding Strategies

• Coding Strategies
• Debugging
• PEP8 Code Style
• Refactoring
• Code Reviews

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Advanced Stuff

• Counting Lines of Code
• Technical Debt
• Project Templates
• Project Management
• How to work with legacy code?
• Documentation Tools
• Citable Code

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Other Things

• Editors
• Environment Variables
• How to recognize good scientific software?
• Impostor Syndrome
• Exercise: Programming Languages
• Exercises

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Contact

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.

License

© 2020 Kristian Rother and Magdalena Rother

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