Python Development Updates: Pico, CoreML, and Pipenv

Exploring Modern Python Tools

In this episode of Python Bytes, Michael Kennedy and Brian Ockton dive into several exciting developments within the Python ecosystem, ranging from lightweight web frameworks to machine learning integrations.

Key Highlights

• Pico Framework: A minimalist, easy-to-use web framework born from the scientific community. It allows developers—even those without extensive web experience—to expose functions as web endpoints using simple decorators. It uniquely features a JavaScript client that auto-generates proxies for API objects.
• Apple's Core ML: With the release of macOS High Sierra, Apple has introduced Core ML, a set of APIs enabling built-in machine learning. This represents a significant step forward, allowing developers to package pre-trained or custom models directly into their applications.
• Python's Logging Module: A look at the guide, A Guide to Logging in Python, which demystifies the complex standard library. The hosts emphasize the advantages of using proper logging—such as time-rotating files and categorization—over simple print statements.
• Dunder Slots Optimization: The hosts explain how using __slots__ can drastically reduce memory usage (up to 57%) by preventing the creation of an instance-specific __dict__ for classes with many objects.
• Pipenv Advancements: Kenneth Reitz's tool has evolved significantly, now offering security checks against vulnerable packages and support for multiple package indexes, helping streamline virtual environment management.

"Instead of having 10 million instances of that class, I have 10 million copies of that dictionary... Why do I need to store those? I probably don't." - Michael Kennedy on Dunder Slots usage

Industry Analysis

The episode concludes by discussing a Stack Overflow data science report covered by Ars Technica. The analysis explores global developer salary disparities, noting that median salaries for developers in the United States remain significantly higher than those in Europe, even when accounting for experience levels.