Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Should you understand the entirety of your codebase? How familiar are you with Python's built-in functions? Christopher Trudeau is back on the show this week with another batch of PyCoder's Weekly articles and projects.
👉 Links from the show: realpython.com/podcasts/rpp/305
We discuss a recent article by Sean Goedecke titled "In Defense of Not Understanding Your Codebase ." We dig into the differences in the scale of software projects and the factors that can obscure understanding of an entire codebase. We cover how opinions and practices people often argue for are based on the development practices from decades ago.
Christopher shares his recent video course that explores Python's built-in functions. The course is divided into sections to help you find the right built-in for tasks involving math, data types, iterables, and I/O. We discuss which of these functions are frequently used in our code.
We also share other articles and projects from the Python community, including recent releases, querying with f-expressions in Django, replacing `if-else` chains, a Rust-based replacement for Python's `json` module, and a couple of Python cheat sheet resources.
This episode is sponsored by [HydraDB](hydradb.com/?utm_source=real-python&utm_medium=real%20python&utm_campaign=dev-tool-listing&utm_content=podcast).
Topics:
- 00:00:00 -- Introduction
- 00:02:29 -- Christopher's Python News Song
- 00:03:18 -- Python 3.15.0 Beta 4 Released
- 00:03:39 -- PEP 838: Adding `python-version` to `pyvenv.cfg`
- 00:04:59 -- PEP 840: Name Resolution in Class Namespaces
- 00:06:42 -- Stop Using `if-else` Chains
- 00:13:46 -- Sponsor: HydraDB
- 00:14:44 -- Nifty Django Feature: F Expressions
- 00:20:23 -- In Defense of Not Understanding Your Codebase
- 00:34:13 -- Exploring Python's Built-in Functions
- 00:45:26 -- Video Course Spotlight
- 00:46:57 -- Python strftime/strptime Directive Cheat Sheet
- 00:50:22 -- Itertools Cheatsheet
- 00:52:59 -- Introducing `django-orjson`
- 00:55:33 -- Thanks and goodbye
👉 Links from the show: realpython.com/podcasts/rpp/305
Download your free Python Cheat Sheet here: realpython.com/cheatsheet
Free Python Skill Test with instant level + learning plan: realpython.com/skill-test
Want to learn faster? Become a Python Expert with unlimited access to 5,000+ tutorials, videos, and exercises: realpython.com/start
🐍 Become a Python expert with real-world tutorials, on-demand courses, interactive quizzes, and 24/7 access to a community of experts at realpython.com
▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰
🐍 Start Here → realpython.com/start
🗺️ Guided Learning Paths → realpython.com/learning-paths
🎧 Real Python Podcast → realpython.com/podcast
📚 Python Books → realpython.com/books
📖 Python Reference → realpython.com/ref
🧑💻 Quizzes & Exercises → realpython.com/quizzes
🎓 Live Courses: realpython.com/live
⭐️ Reviews & Learner Stories: realpython.com/learner-stories
▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰
Should you understand the entirety of your codebase? How familiar are you with Python's built-in functions? Christopher Trudeau is back on the show this week with another batch of PyCoder's Weekly articles and projects.
👉 Links from the show: realpython.com/podcasts/rpp/305
We discuss a recent article by Sean Goedecke titled "In Defense of Not Understanding Your Codebase ." We dig into the differences in the scale of software projects and the factors that can obscure understanding of an entire codebase. We cover how opinions and practices people often argue for are based on the development practices from decades ago.
Christopher shares his recent video course that explores Python's built-in functions. The course is divided into sections to help you find the right built-in for tasks involving math, data types, iterables, and I/O. We discuss which of these functions are frequently used in our code.
We also share other articles and projects from the Python community, including recent releases, querying with f-expressions in Django, replacing `if-else` chains, a Rust-based replacement for Python's `json` module, and a couple of Python cheat sheet resources.
This episode is sponsored by [HydraDB](hydradb.com/?utm_source=real-python&utm_medium=real%20python&utm_campaign=dev-tool-listing&utm_content=podcast).
Topics:
- 00:00:00 -- Introduction
- 00:02:29 -- Christopher's Python News Song
- 00:03:18 -- Python 3.15.0 Beta 4 Released
- 00:03:39 -- PEP 838: Adding `python-version` to `pyvenv.cfg`
- 00:04:59 -- PEP 840: Name Resolution in Class Namespaces
- 00:06:42 -- Stop Using `if-else` Chains
- 00:13:46 -- Sponsor: HydraDB
- 00:14:44 -- Nifty Django Feature: F Expressions
- 00:20:23 -- In Defense of Not Understanding Your Codebase
- 00:34:13 -- Exploring Python's Built-in Functions
- 00:45:26 -- Video Course Spotlight
- 00:46:57 -- Python strftime/strptime Directive Cheat Sheet
- 00:50:22 -- Itertools Cheatsheet
- 00:52:59 -- Introducing `django-orjson`
- 00:55:33 -- Thanks and goodbye
👉 Links from the show: realpython.com/podcasts/rpp/305
Download your free Python Cheat Sheet here: realpython.com/cheatsheet
Free Python Skill Test with instant level + learning plan: realpython.com/skill-test
Want to learn faster? Become a Python Expert with unlimited access to 5,000+ tutorials, videos, and exercises: realpython.com/start
🐍 Become a Python expert with real-world tutorials, on-demand courses, interactive quizzes, and 24/7 access to a community of experts at realpython.com
▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰
🐍 Start Here → realpython.com/start
🗺️ Guided Learning Paths → realpython.com/learning-paths
🎧 Real Python Podcast → realpython.com/podcast
📚 Python Books → realpython.com/books
📖 Python Reference → realpython.com/ref
🧑💻 Quizzes & Exercises → realpython.com/quizzes
🎓 Live Courses: realpython.com/live
⭐️ Reviews & Learner Stories: realpython.com/learner-stories
▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰
