Advanced Python Programming / Next-Level Python

Course Objectives

This course is approximately 50% hands-on, combining expert lecture, real-world demonstrations and group discussions with machine-based practical labs and exercises.  Our engaging instructors and mentors are highly experienced practitioners who bring years of current "on-the-job" experience into every classroom.  

Working in a hands-on learning environment led by our expert practitioner, attendees will learn advanced skills needed to:

• Leverage OS services
• Add enhancements to classes
• Code graphical interfaces for applications
• Understand advanced Python metaprogramming concepts
• Create easy-to-use and easy-to-maintain modules and packages
• Implement and run unit tests
• Create multithreaded and multi-process applications
• Interact with network services
• Design professional scripts
• Query databases
• Process XML, CSV,  and JSON data
• Working with more data types if time permits
• Using type hints if time permits

Need different skills or topics?  If your team requires different topics or tools, additional skills or custom approach, this course may be further adjusted to accommodate.  We offer additional python, web development, data science, machine learning and other related topics that may be blended with this course for a track that best suits your needs. Our team will collaborate with you to understand your needs and will target the course to focus on your specific learning objectives and goals.

Course Prerequisites

This in an intermediate and beyond level Python course geared for students experienced with Python who want to use Python in web development projects or automate or simplify common tasks with the use of Python scripts.  Basic incoming practical experience working with Python is required, along with a working, user-level knowledge of Unix/Linux, Mac, or Windows.  This course does not cover Python fundamentals.

Please see the Related Courses tab for specific Pre-Requisite courses, Related Courses that offer similar skills or topics, and next-step Learning Path recommendations.

Course Agenda

Please note that this list of topics is based on our standard course offering, evolved from typical industry uses and trends. We’ll work with you to tune this course and level of coverage to target the skills you need most.

1. Python Quick Refresher

• Builtin data types
• Lists and tuples
• Dictionaries and sets
• Program structure
• Files and console I/O
• If statement
• for and while loops

2. OS Services

• The os and os.path modules
• Environment variables
• Launching external commands with subprocess
• Walking directory trees
• Paths, directories, and filenames
• Working with file systems

3. Dates and Times

• Basic date and time classes
• Different time formats
• Converting between formats
• Formatting dates and times
• Parsing date/time information

4. Binary Data

• What is Binary Data?
• Binary vs text
• Using the Struct module

5. Pythonic Programming

• The Zen of Python
• Tuples
• Advanced unpacking
• Sorting
• Lambda functions
• List comprehensions
• Generator expressions
• String formatting

6. Functions, modules, and packages

• Four types of function parameters
• Four levels of name scoping
• Single/multi dispatch
• Relative imports
• Using __init__ effectively
• Documentation best practices

7. Intermediate classes

• Class/static data and methods
• Inheritance (or composition)
• Abstract base classes
• Implementing protocols (context, iterator, etc.) with special methods

8. Metaprogramming

• Implicit properties
• globals() and locals()
• Working with object attributes
• The inspect module
• Callable classes
• Decorators
• Monkey patching

9. Developer Tools

• Analyzing programs with pylint
• Using the debugger
• Profiling code
• Testing speed with benchmarking

10. Unit testing with PyTest

• What is a unit test?
• Writing tests
• Working with fixtures
• Test runners
• Mocking resources

11. Database access

• The DB API
• Available Interfaces
• Connecting to a server
• Creating and executing a cursor
• Fetching data
• Parameterized statements
• Using Metadata
• Transaction control
• ORMs and NoSQL overview

12. PyQt

• Overview
• Qt Architecture
• Using designer
• Standard widgets
• Event handling
• Extras

13. Network Programming

• Builtin classes
• Using requests
• Grabbing web pages
• Sending email
• Working with binary data
• Consuming RESTful services
• Remote access (SSH)

14. Multiprogramming

• The threading module
• Sharing variables
• The queue module
• The multiprocessing module
• Creating pools
• About async programming

15. Scripting for System Administration

• Running external programs
• Parsing arguments
• Creating filters to read text files
• Logging

16. Serializing data – XML and JSON

• Working with XML
• XML modules in Python
• Getting started with ElementTree
• Parsing XML
• Updating an XML tree
• Creating a new document
• About JSON
• Reading JSON
• Writing JSON
• Reading/writing CSV files
• YAML, other formats as time permits

Time Permitting Sessions

17. Advanced data handling

• Discover the collections module
• Use defaultdict, Counter, and namedtuple
• Create dataclasses
• Store data offline with pickle

18. Type hinting

• Annotate variables
• Learn what type hinting does NOT do
• Use the typing module for detailed type hints
• Understand union and optional types
• Write stub interfaces

Course Materials

Student Materials: Each student will receive a Student Guide with course notes, code samples, software tutorials, diagrams and related reference materials and links (as applicable). Our courses also include step by step hands-on lab instructions and and solutions, clearly illustrated for users to complete hands-on work in class, and to revisit to review or refresh skills at any time. Students will also receive the project files (or code, if applicable) and solutions required for the hands-on work.