Wednesday Daily Thread: Beginner questions

# Weekly Thread: Beginner Questions 🐍

Welcome to our Beginner Questions thread! Whether you're new to Python or just looking to clarify some basics, this is the thread for you.

## How it Works:

1. Ask Anything: Feel free to ask any Python-related question. There are no bad questions here!
2. Community Support: Get answers and advice from the community.
3. Resource Sharing: Discover tutorials, articles, and beginner-friendly resources.

## Guidelines:

This thread is specifically for beginner questions. For more advanced queries, check out our [Advanced Questions Thread](#advanced-questions-thread-link).

## Recommended Resources:

If you don't receive a response, consider exploring r/LearnPython or join the Python Discord Server for quicker assistance.

## Example Questions:

1. What is the difference between a list and a tuple?
2. How do I read a CSV file in Python?
3. What are Python decorators and how do I use them?
4. How do I install a Python package using pip?
5. What is a virtual environment and why should I use one?

Let's help each other learn Python! 🌟

/r/Python
https://redd.it/1k5lh9f

Backend failing to start - Electron react js front end and flask backend

I am developing a desktop app for cross platform users. I packaged backend flask using pyinstaller as a standalone executable file and then built the electron as single executable file for all three platforms using GitHub actions workflow. I am able to run the workflow and download artefacts but when I install the app in my windows I see that the backend is not starting at all. I am new to full stack development and would like to know the possible issues for this to happen. Or is there any way I could package this app but running flask in the local machine is out of scope.

/r/flask
https://redd.it/1k5ix19

CPython's optimization for doubly linked lists in deque (amortizes 200% link memory overhead)

I was reading through CPython's implementation for `deque` and noticed a simple but generally useful optimization to amortize memory overhead of node pointers and increase cache locality of elements by using fixed length blocks of elements per node, so sharing here.

I'll apply this next when I have the pleasure of writing a doubly linked list.

From: [Modules/\_collectionsmodule.c#L88-L94](https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/b5bf8c80a921679b23548453565f6fd1f79901f2/Modules/_collectionsmodule.c#L88-L94)

* Textbook implementations of doubly-linked lists store one datum
* per link, but that gives them a 200% memory overhead (a prev and
* next link for each datum) and it costs one malloc() call per data
* element. By using fixed-length blocks, the link to data ratio is
* significantly improved and there are proportionally fewer calls
* to malloc() and free(). The data blocks of consecutive pointers
* also improve cache locality.

/r/Python
https://redd.it/1k5nxvt

Where to deploy a simple portfolio project?

Hi guys, as a question states. It was my 3rd approach to railway and I'm giving up a little. Is there any plug and play Django dedicated hosting service? Cheap or free would be preferred.

/r/djangolearning
https://redd.it/1k5h9pk

lsoph - a TUI for viewing file access by a process

# 📁 `lsoph`

TUI that lists open files for a given process. Uses `strace` by default, but also `psutil` and `lsof` so will sort-of-work on Mac and Windows too.

Usage:

```shell
uvx pip install lsoph
lsoph -p <pid>
```

# [🎬 Demo Video](https://asciinema.org/a/c7T8id39jU7ap6E0D99S5dJ6F)

Project links:

* [🏠 home](https://bitplane.net/dev/python/lsoph)
* [🐱 github](https://github.com/bitplane/lsoph)
* [🐍 pypi](https://pypi.org/project/lsoph)


## Why?

Because I often use `strace` or `lsof` with `grep` to figure out what a program is doing, what files it's opening etc. It's easier than looking for config files. But it gets old fast, what I really want is a list of files for a tree of processes, with the last touched one at the top, so I can see what it's trying to do. And I wan to filter out ones I don't care about. And I want this in a tmux panel too.

So, I'd heard good things about Gemini 2.5 Pro, and figured it'd only take a couple of hours. So I decided to create it as GenAI slop experiment.

This descended into madness over the course of a weekend, with input from ChatGPT and Claude to keep things moving.

**I do not recommend this. Pure AI driven coding is not ready for prime-time**.

Vibe coders, I never realised how bad you have it!

## retro

Here's some notes on

/r/Python
https://redd.it/1k5kj23

"How to implement a dynamic invoicing system with separate static content and additional values in Django and React?" Post: Hi everyone, I'm planning to develop an invoicing application where: There is a static content section (such as text and templates) that multiple users can edit dynamically

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to develop an invoicing application where:

There is a static content section (such as text and templates) that multiple users can edit dynamically.

Some additional values (e.g., invoice-specific data) need to be stored separately from the content.

The application’s backend will be built using Django, and the frontend will use React with Material-UI.

Questions:
How do I store dynamic content that multiple users can edit (e.g., using a database like PostgreSQL) and ensure it's easily accessible for updates across different users?

What’s the best way to store the separate values (such as invoice metadata) alongside the content, while keeping the two sets of data modular and easy to manage?

How should I structure my Django models and API to manage both static content and dynamic data efficiently?

Are there any best practices for handling dynamic content updates and storing them securely in a multi-user environment?

Any advice or guidance would be appreciated!

/r/django
https://redd.it/1k5tspx

Work offering to pay for a python course. Any recommendations on courses?

My employer has offered to pay for me to take a python course on company time but has requested that I pick the course myself.

It needs to be self paced so I can work around it without having to worry about set deadlines. Having a bit of a hard time finding courses that meet that requirement.

Anyone have suggestions or experience with good courses that fit the bill?

/r/Python
https://redd.it/1k5awlb

Razorpay not secure page while payment verification

/r/djangolearning
https://redd.it/1k3hogi

How to extract data from Wikipedia for a specific category?

Hey everyone,
I'm looking for the best way to extract data from Wikipedia, but only for a specific category and its subcategories (for example: "Nobel laureates").

/r/Python
https://redd.it/1k5w65s

Flask run server

Hey guys a learn flask whit cs50x course. And i make a web app to mage clients of my entrepreneurship. What would be the cheapeast way to have this aplication running whithout it runing a computer?

I thought I could load it onto a flash drive and connect it to the router so the file is local, then run it from a PC. That way, I can access it from all my devices.

pd( no se nada sobre servidores ni seguridad en la web)

/r/flask
https://redd.it/1k4chqu

Meta leads linking with django app

I am currently developing a crm with django. I need to get the leads generated from meta platforms in my app. Also need the ads and campaigns. How can I get the leads once generated from meta? Also how to get the ads and campaigns that are currently active?
I checked out meta developers docs and didn't get a clear picture.

/r/django
https://redd.it/1k5wxe0

Advanced Alchemy 1.0 - A framework agnostic library for SQLAlchemy

# Introducing Advanced Alchemy

Advanced Alchemy is an optimized companion library for SQLAlchemy, designed to supercharge your database models with powerful tooling for migrations, asynchronous support, lifecycle hook and more.

You can find the repository and documentation here:

- GitHub Repository
- Official Documentation

## What Advanced Alchemy Does

Advanced Alchemy extends SQLAlchemy with productivity-enhancing features, while keeping full compatibility with the ecosystem you already know.

At its core, Advanced Alchemy offers:

- Sync and async repositories, featuring common CRUD and highly optimized bulk operations
- Integration with major web frameworks including Litestar, Starlette, FastAPI, Flask, and Sanic (additional contributions welcomed)
- Custom-built alembic configuration and CLI with optional framework integration
- Utility base classes with audit columns, primary keys and utility functions
- Built in File Object data type for storing objects:
- Unified interface for various storage backends (`fsspec` and `obstore`)
- Optional lifecycle event hooks integrated with SQLAlchemy's event system to automatically save and delete files as records are inserted, updated, or deleted
- Optimized JSON types including a custom JSON type for Oracle
- Integrated support for UUID6 and UUID7 using `uuid-utils` (install with the uuid extra)
- Integrated support for Nano ID using `fastnanoid` (install with the nanoid extra)
- Pre-configured base classes with audit

/r/Python
https://redd.it/1k5z534

Template tag hack to reduce SQL queries in templates... am I going to regret this later?

A while back I managed to pare down a major view from ≈360 SQL queries to ≈196 (a 45% decrease!) by replacing major parts of templates with the following method:

* Make a new template tag i.e. `render_header(obj_in):`
* grab "`obj`" as a queryset of `obj_in`(or grab directly from `obj_in`, whichever results in less queries at the end)
* gradually generate the output HTML by grabbing properties of "`obj`"
* register.filter and load into template
* replace the existing HTML to generate from the template tag i.e.`{{post|render_header|safe}}`

For example, here is what it looks like in the template:

{% load onequerys %}
<header class="post-head">{{post|render_header|safe}}</header>

And in `(app)/templatetags/onequerys.py`:

def render_header(obj_in):
    post = obj_in # grab directly or do Post.objects.get(id=obj_in.id)
    final = f" -- HTML is assembled here from the properties of {post}... -- "
    return final

register.filter("render_header", render_header)

So far this works like a charm but I'm wondering... I haven't seen anyone else do this online and I wonder if it's for a good reason. Could this cause any

/r/djangolearning
https://redd.it/1k2x0zs

Declarative GUI toolkit - Slint 1.11 upgrades Python Bindings to Beta 🚀

We're delighted to release Slint 1.11 with two exciting updates:

✅ Live-Preview features Color & Gradient pickers,
✅ Python Bindings upgraded to Beta.

Speed up your UI development with visual color selection and more robust Python support. Check it out - https://slint.dev/blog/slint-1.11-released

/r/Python
https://redd.it/1k5wqpr

Goombay: For all your sequence alignment needs

# Goombay

If you have any questions or ideas, feel free to leave them in this project's [discord server](https://discord.gg/SDUNcjzaEh)! There are also several other bioinformatics-related projects, a website, and a game in the works!

# What My Project Does

**Goombay** is a Python project which contains several sequence alignment algorithms. This package can calculate distance (and similarity), show alignment, and display the underlying matrices for Needleman-Wunsch, Gotoh, Smith-Waterman, Wagner-Fischer, Waterman-Smith-Beyer, Lowrance-Wagner, Longest Common Subsequence, and Shortest Common Supersequence algorithms! With more alignment algorithms to come!

**Main Features**

* Global and Local sequence alignment
* Common method interface between classes for ease of use
* Class-based and instance-based use (customizable parameters)
* Scoring, matrix visualization, and formatted sequence alignment
* Thorough testing

For all features check out the full readme at [GitHub](https://github.com/lignum-vitae/goombay) or [PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/goombay/).

# Target Audience

This API is designed for researchers or any programmer looking to use sequence alignment in their workflow.

# Comparison

There are many other examples of sequence alignment PyPI packages but my specific project was meant to expand on the functionality of [textdistance](https://github.com/life4/textdistance)! In addition to adding more choices, this project also adds a few algorithms not present in textdistance!

# Basic Example

from goombay import needleman_wunsch

print(needleman_wunsch.distance("ACTG","FHYU"))
# 4


/r/Python
https://redd.it/1k6259g

HsdPy: A Python Library for Vector Similarity with SIMD Acceleration

What My Project Does

Hi everyone,

I made an open-source library for fast vector distance and similarity calculations.

At the moment, it supports:

- Euclidean, Manhattan, and Hamming distances
- Dot product, cosine, and Jaccard similarities

The library uses SIMD acceleration (AVX, AVX2, AVX512, NEON, and SVE instructions) to speed things up.

The library itself is in C, but it comes with a Python wrapper library (named HsdPy), so it can be used directly with NumPy arrays and other Python code.

Here’s the GitHub link if you want to check it out: https://github.com/habedi/hsdlib/tree/main/bindings/python

/r/Python
https://redd.it/1k60ci8

Django-admin-shellx - A terminal in your admin using xtermjs

Hey,

I built an Django app that adds a terminal using xterm.js to the admin. Under the hood it uses websockets with Django channels and xterm.js for the terminal.

Has multiple features as full screen mode, favorite commands, recording of actions and history of commands among others.

Preview:

GIF

Here is the GitHub link:

adinhodovic/django-admin-shellx

Thanks for taking a look!

/r/django
https://redd.it/1k67vxq

Thursday Daily Thread: Python Careers, Courses, and Furthering Education!

# Weekly Thread: Professional Use, Jobs, and Education 🏢

Welcome to this week's discussion on Python in the professional world! This is your spot to talk about job hunting, career growth, and educational resources in Python. Please note, this thread is not for recruitment.

---

## How it Works:

1. Career Talk: Discuss using Python in your job, or the job market for Python roles.
2. Education Q&A: Ask or answer questions about Python courses, certifications, and educational resources.
3. Workplace Chat: Share your experiences, challenges, or success stories about using Python professionally.

---

## Guidelines:

- This thread is not for recruitment. For job postings, please see r/PythonJobs or the recruitment thread in the sidebar.
- Keep discussions relevant to Python in the professional and educational context.

---

## Example Topics:

1. Career Paths: What kinds of roles are out there for Python developers?
2. Certifications: Are Python certifications worth it?
3. Course Recommendations: Any good advanced Python courses to recommend?
4. Workplace Tools: What Python libraries are indispensable in your professional work?
5. Interview Tips: What types of Python questions are commonly asked in interviews?

---

Let's help each other grow in our careers and education. Happy discussing! 🌟

/r/Python
https://redd.it/1k6ecup

What is the technique for side by side comparisons of queryset?

I am working on a view that does a side by side comparison of 3 different date ranges and compares the total of each product per category. The results are stored into a table for a frontend to render. The problem is that it keeps timing out. Wizards of reddit, there has to be a better way. Please teach me. I know am doing this in an ugly way.

IE

||2022|2023|
|:-|:-|:-|
|Lumber|1|2|
|Produce|4|1|



@api_view(['POST'])
def sideBySideComparison(
request
):
    filters1 =
request
.data.get('filters1', None)
    filters2 =
request
.data.get('filters2', None)
    filters3 =
request
.data.get('filters3', None)

    dataset3 = None
    dataset2 = None
    dataset1 = Product.objects.all()
    for filter_key,filter_value in filters1.items():
        new_filter = (filter_key,filter_value)
        dataset1 = dataset1.filter(new_filter)
   

/r/django
https://redd.it/1k699ur

Jonq! Your python wrapper for jq thats readable

Yo!

This is a tool that was proposed by someone over here at [r/opensource](https://www.reddit.com/r/opensource/). Can't remember who it was but anyways, I started on v0.0.1 about 2 months ago or so and for the last month been working on v0.0.2. So to briefly introduce Jonq, its a tool that lets you query JSON data using SQLish/Pythonic-like syntax.

# Why I built this

I love `jq`, but every time I need to use it, my head literally spins. So since a good person recommended we try write a wrapper around jq, I thought, sure why not.

# What my project does?

`jonq` is essentially a Python wrapper around `jq` that translates familiar SQL-like syntax into `jq` filters. The idea is simple:

bash
jonq data.json "select name, age if age > 30 sort age desc"

Instead of:

bash
jq '.[] | select(.age > 30) | {name, age}' data.json | jq 'sort_by(.age) | reverse'

# Features

* **SQL-like syntax**: `select`, `if`, `sort`, `group by`, etc.
* **Aggregations**: `sum`, `avg`, `count`, `max`, `min`
* **Nested data**: Dot notation for nested fields, bracket notation for arrays
* **Export formats**: Output as JSON (default) or CSV (previously CSV wasn't an option)

# Target Audience

Anyone who works with json

# Comparison

Duckdb, Pandas

# Examples

# Basic filtering:

## Get names and

/r/Python
https://redd.it/1k6es7d