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Last update: December 05, 2025 04:43 PM UTC

December 05, 2025

Real Python

The Real Python Podcast – Episode #276: Exploring Quantum Computing & Python Frameworks

What are the recent advances in the field of quantum computing and high-performance computing? And what Python tools can you use to develop programs that run on quantum computers? This week on the show, Real Python author Negar Vahid discusses her tutorial, "Quantum Computing Basics With Qiskit."

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December 05, 2025 12:00 PM UTC

Mark Dufour

Shed Skin restricted-Python-to-C++ compiler v0.9.11

I have just released version 0.9.11 of Shed Skin, a restricted-Python-to-C++ compiler. Most importantly, it adds support for Python 3.14. It also adds support for many 3.x features that were not yet implemented, in addition to basic support for the base64 module. It also optimizes a few more common code patterns.

Paul Boddie was able to add support for libpcre2, and in the process updated conan to version 2. Thanks to Shakeeb and now Paul, Shed Skin has had first-class Windows support for the last few releases.

A new release is often triggered by a nice new example. In this case I found an advanced/educational 3d renderer by Benny Bobaganoosh, and rewrote it from Java to Python. In ~500 lines of code, it renders an .obj file with perspective-correct texture mapping and so on, clipping, lighting.. It becomes about 13 times faster after compilation (in other words, it goes from about 2 to about 30 FPS).

For the full list of changes in the release, please see the release notes.

Something I have noticed while working on this release is that small object allocations seem to have become faster under Linux, to the degree that programs that would become _slower_ after compilation because of excessive small-object allocation, are now usually _faster_ again, at least on my system. This motivated me to measure the speedup for all 84 example programs at the moment versus cpython 3.13. While it's still all over the place, I was happy to see a median speedup of 12 times, and an average of 20 times.

I would very much appreciate more feedback on/assistance with the project. There is always enough low-hanging fruit to help with! See for example the current list of issues for 0.9.12. But just testing random things, finding interesting new example programs, cleaning up parts of the code and such are also much appreciated.

December 05, 2025 03:08 AM UTC

December 03, 2025

Caktus Consulting Group

LLM Basics: Ollama Function Calling

In our previous post, we introduced function calling and learned how to do it with OpenAI’s LLMs. In this post, we’ll call the same cactify_name function from that post using Meta’s Llama 3.2 model, installed locally using Ollama. The techniques in this post should also work with other Ollama models that support function-calling.

December 03, 2025 04:42 PM UTC

Real Python

How to Use Google's Gemini CLI for AI Code Assistance

This tutorial will teach you how to use Gemini CLI to bring Google’s AI-powered coding assistance directly into your terminal. After you authenticate with your Google account, this tool will be ready to help you analyze code, identify bugs, and suggest fixes—all without leaving your familiar development environment:

Gemini CLI

Imagine debugging code without switching between your console and browser, or picture getting instant explanations for unfamiliar projects. Like other command-line AI assistants, Google’s Gemini CLI brings AI-powered coding assistance directly into your command line, allowing you to stay focused in your development workflow.

Whether you’re troubleshooting a stubborn bug, understanding legacy code, or generating documentation, this tool acts as an intelligent pair-programming partner that understands your codebase’s context.

You’re about to install Gemini CLI, authenticate with Google’s free tier, and put it to work on an actual Python project. You’ll discover how natural language queries can help you understand code faster and catch bugs that might slip past manual review.

Prerequisites

To follow along with this tutorial, you’ll need the following:

  • Google Account: A personal Google account is required to use Gemini CLI’s free tier, which offers one thousand requests per day and sixty requests per minute at no charge.
  • Python 3.12 or Higher: You’ll work with a Python command-line application to demonstrate Gemini CLI’s capabilities. If you haven’t already, install Python on your system, making sure the minimum version is Python 3.12.
  • Node.js 20 or Higher: Gemini CLI is distributed through npm, Node.js’s package manager. You’ll verify your Node.js installation in the next section.

Because Gemini CLI is a command-line tool, you should feel comfortable navigating your terminal and running basic shell commands.

Go ahead and download the supporting materials to get the Python project you’ll be working with throughout this tutorial:

Get Your Code: Click here to download the free sample code that you’ll use to take Google’s Gemini CLI for a spin.

Once you’ve extracted the files, you’ll find a todolist/ directory containing a complete Python CLI application, which is similar to the to-do app covered in another tutorial. This project will serve as your testing ground for Gemini CLI’s code analysis and debugging features.

Take the Quiz: Test your knowledge with our interactive “How to Use Google's Gemini CLI for AI Code Assistance” quiz. You’ll receive a score upon completion to help you track your learning progress:

How to Use Google's Gemini CLI for AI Code Assistance

Interactive Quiz

How to Use Google's Gemini CLI for AI Code Assistance

Learn how to install, authenticate, and safely use the Gemini CLI to interact with Google's Gemini models.

Step 1: Install and Set Up Gemini CLI

Before you can start using the AI-powered features of Gemini CLI, you need to get it installed on your system and authenticate with Google. In this step, you’ll verify your Node.js installation, install Gemini CLI globally, and complete the authentication process to access the free tier.

Verify Your Node.js Installation

Gemini CLI is primarily implemented in TypeScript, which requires Node.js. You’ll need Node.js version 20 or higher to run Gemini CLI. First, check if you have Node.js installed in the required version by opening your terminal and running this command:

Shell 
$ node --version
v24.11.1

If you see a version number of 20 or higher, then you’re all set. Otherwise, if you encounter a command not found error or have an older version, then you’ll need to install or update Node.js before continuing.

Note: If you’re on macOS or Linux, then you can leverage Homebrew to get Gemini CLI without having to install Node.js yourself.

The recommended approach to install Node.js is to use the Node Version Manager (nvm), which allows you to install and switch between multiple Node.js versions, much like pyenv does for Python. You can find detailed installation instructions for your operating system on the Node.js download page.

Once Node.js is installed, you’ll also have access to the Node Package Manager (npm), which you’ll use in the next step.

Install Gemini CLI Globally

With Node.js installed, you can now install Gemini CLI using npm. The -g flag installs the package globally, making the gemini command available from anywhere in your file system:

Shell 
$ npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

Read the full article at https://realpython.com/how-to-use-gemini-cli/ »

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December 03, 2025 02:00 PM UTC

Django Weblog

Django 6.0 released

The Django team is happy to announce the release of Django 6.0.

The release notes assembles a mosaic of modern tools and thoughtful design. A few highlights are:

You can get Django 6.0 from our downloads page or from the Python Package Index.

The PGP key ID used for this release is Natalia Bidart: 2EE82A8D9470983E

With the release of Django 6.0, Django 5.2 has reached the end of mainstream support. The final minor bug fix release, 5.2.9, was issued yesterday. Django 5.2 will receive security and data loss fixes until April 2028. All users are encouraged to upgrade before then to continue receiving fixes for security issues.

Django 5.1 has reached the end of extended support. The final security release, 5.1.15, was issued on Dec. 2, 2025. All Django 5.1 users are encouraged to upgrade to a supported Django version.

See the downloads page for a table of supported versions and the future release schedule.

December 03, 2025 12:00 PM UTC

Real Python

Quiz: How to Use Google's Gemini CLI for AI Code Assistance

In this quiz, you’ll test your understanding of the How to Use Google’s Gemini CLI for AI Code Assistance tutorial.

By working through these questions, you’ll revisit how to install and verify prerequisites like Node.js, explore authentication options, and understand the CLI’s permission and safety model. You’ll also practice managing interactive sessions, enforcing stronger models, and approving or editing shell commands securely.

To deepen your understanding, review the sections on verifying your environment, authenticating safely, and running interactive prompts in the linked tutorial.

[ Improve Your Python With 🐍 Python Tricks 💌 – Get a short & sweet Python Trick delivered to your inbox every couple of days. >> Click here to learn more and see examples ]

December 03, 2025 12:00 PM UTC

Talk Python to Me

#529: Computer Science from Scratch

A lot of people building software today never took the traditional CS path. They arrived through curiosity, a job that needed automating, or a late-night itch to make something work. This week, David Kopec joins me to talk about rebuilding computer science for exactly those folks, the ones who learned to program first and are now ready to understand the deeper ideas that power the tools they use every day.<br/> <br/> <strong>Episode sponsors</strong><br/> <br/> <a href='https://talkpython.fm/sentry'>Sentry Error Monitoring, Code TALKPYTHON</a><br> <a href='https://talkpython.fm/nordstellar'>NordStellar</a><br> <a href='https://talkpython.fm/training'>Talk Python Courses</a><br/> <br/> <h2 class="links-heading mb-4">Links from the show</h2> <div><strong>David Kopec</strong>: <a href="https://davekopec.com?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >davekopec.com</a><br/> <strong>Classic Computer Science Book</strong>: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Computer-Science-Problems-Python/dp/1617295981?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >amazon.com</a><br/> <strong>Computer Science from Scratch Book</strong>: <a href="https://computersciencefromscratch.com?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >computersciencefromscratch.com</a><br/> <strong>Computer Science from Scratch at NoStartch (CSFS30 for 30% off)</strong>: <a href="https://nostarch.com/computer-science-from-scratch?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >nostarch.com</a><br/> <br/> <strong>Watch this episode on YouTube</strong>: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVQOoD6cZmg" target="_blank" >youtube.com</a><br/> <strong>Episode #529 deep-dive</strong>: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/episodes/show/529/computer-science-from-scratch#takeaways-anchor" target="_blank" >talkpython.fm/529</a><br/> <strong>Episode transcripts</strong>: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/episodes/transcript/529/computer-science-from-scratch" target="_blank" >talkpython.fm</a><br/> <br/> <strong>Theme Song: Developer Rap</strong><br/> <strong>🥁 Served in a Flask 🎸</strong>: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/flasksong" target="_blank" >talkpython.fm/flasksong</a><br/> <br/> <strong>---== Don't be a stranger ==---</strong><br/> <strong>YouTube</strong>: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/youtube" target="_blank" ><i class="fa-brands fa-youtube"></i> youtube.com/@talkpython</a><br/> <br/> <strong>Bluesky</strong>: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/talkpython.fm" target="_blank" >@talkpython.fm</a><br/> <strong>Mastodon</strong>: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/web/@talkpython" target="_blank" ><i class="fa-brands fa-mastodon"></i> @talkpython@fosstodon.org</a><br/> <strong>X.com</strong>: <a href="https://x.com/talkpython" target="_blank" ><i class="fa-brands fa-twitter"></i> @talkpython</a><br/> <br/> <strong>Michael on Bluesky</strong>: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/mkennedy.codes?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >@mkennedy.codes</a><br/> <strong>Michael on Mastodon</strong>: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/web/@mkennedy" target="_blank" ><i class="fa-brands fa-mastodon"></i> @mkennedy@fosstodon.org</a><br/> <strong>Michael on X.com</strong>: <a href="https://x.com/mkennedy?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" ><i class="fa-brands fa-twitter"></i> @mkennedy</a><br/></div>

December 03, 2025 08:00 AM UTC

December 02, 2025

Christian Ledermann

Game development with SpecKit, Rust and Bevy

brkrs — a fun, playable brick-breaker game & learning playground

brkrs is a real, playable Breakout/Arkanoid-style game written in Rust 🦀 using the Bevy engine.
It’s also a hands-on learning project, letting you explore:

Every feature starts as a spec, flows through an issue or PR, and ends as working Rust code. You can play the game, explore the code, and learn modern Rust/Bevy workflows all at the same time.

Linus Torvalds said: “Talk is cheap. Show me the code.”

brkrs lets you play, tinker, and see the specs come alive in a real game.

The Story Behind brkrs

I always wanted to rewrite my old Arkanoid/Breakout-style game, YaAC 🐧, in a modern game framework.

I began by manually implementing the core gameplay foundations: reading documentation, following examples, and building a basic proof-of-concept with the essential mechanics (ball, paddle, bricks).

It quickly became clear that doing everything manually would involve a steep learning curve and a lot of time.

brkrs was born as a solution: a way to learn modern Rust game development, apply spec-first workflows, and experiment with AI-assisted coding, all while still having fun playing a real game.

Try it now

You can play a web version on GitHub Pages

Key Features

brkrs is a Breakout/Arkanoid style game implemented in Rust with the Bevy engine. It extends the classic formula with richer physics, paddle rotation, and per-level configuration.

Quickstart (play & learn)

Prerequisites: Rust + Cargo + Git

git clone https://github.com/cleder/brkrs.git
cd brkrs
cargo run --release

Controls: move paddle with mouse, scroll wheel to rotate (if enabled), ESC to pause.

Play, tweak, and learn — modify levels, bricks, or mechanics to see specs turn into features.

Core Systems

  1. Physics (Rapier3D) – 3D physics constrained to a flat play plane.
  2. Game State – (planned) menu, playing, paused, game over, transitions.
  3. Level Loader – RON file parsing, entity spawning, per-level gravity.
  4. Brick System – Extensible brick behaviors via components & events.
  5. Pause System – ESC to pause, click to resume, with window mode switching (native).

Learning Path & Contribution

This project is intended to be fun and educational. Suggested learning steps:

  1. Read a spec in the repo or wiki
  2. Pick a small issue to implement
  3. Submit a PR that fulfills the spec
  4. Experiment with AI-assisted features or gameplay tweaks

Documentation

Full documentation is available at brkrs.readthedocs.io:

Why You’ll Enjoy It

December 02, 2025 10:00 PM UTC

PyCoder’s Weekly

Issue #711: pairwise(), Mocks, Claude, and More (Dec. 2, 2025)

#711 – DECEMBER 2, 2025
View in Browser »

The PyCoder’s Weekly Logo

Generalising itertools.pairwise

This article teaches you about itertools.pairwise, a function for accessing pairs of components over an iterable. Learn where it is helpful and what its limitations are.
RODRIGO GIRÃO SERRÃO

Why Your Mock Breaks Later

An overly aggressive mock can work fine, but then break much later. If you don’t mock the right spot in your code you can break other testing libraries.
NED BATCHELDER

Turn Multi-Agent Mayhem into Harmony (with Python + Temporal)

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AI is powerful but messier than a three-way Git merge on a Friday afternoon. Join us to see how Temporal helps Python devs orchestrate multi-agent systems with confidence. Learn how to make your agents play nicely and your code stay clean →
TEMPORAL sponsor

Getting Started With Claude Code

Learn to set up and use Claude Code for Python projects: install, run commands, and integrate with Git.
REAL PYTHON course

PyCon Austria 2026: Free Conference, Registration Is Open

PYCON.AT • Shared by Horst JENS

PSF Code of Conduct Working Group Transparency Report

PYTHON SOFTWARE FOUNDATION

Microsoft Announces SQL Server Python Driver

MICROSOFT.COM • Shared by Howard Rothenburg

Python Jobs

Python Video Course Instructor (Anywhere)

Real Python

Python Tutorial Writer (Anywhere)

Real Python

More Python Jobs >>>

Articles & Tutorials

PyPI and Shai-Hulud: Staying Secure Amid Emerging Threats

There is an attack on-going in the JavaScript/NPM world that has been named Shai-Hulud. It has targeted a large number of packages. So far, PyPI has not been exploited, but attempts have been made. This post explains what the folks at PyPI are doing to prevent problems and how you can protect yourself.
MIKE FIEDLER

Understanding the Different POST Content Types

When writing code that accepts user data on the web, you usually are using the HTTP POST method. POST supports several different types of data in the request body. This post teaches you about each of them, with examples in Django to make it clearer.
AIDAS BENDORAITIS

B2B Authentication for any Situation - Fully Managed or BYO

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What your sales team needs to close deals: multi-tenancy, SAML, SSO, SCIM provisioning, passkeys…What you’d rather be doing: almost anything else. PropelAuth does it all for you, at every stage →
PROPELAUTH sponsor

American Data Centers

This step-by-step post shows you how to do data analysis on the Business Insider’s dataset on American Data Centres. The analysis uses a variety of tools, including the Python esprima library for parsing, duckdb, and more.
MARK LITWINTSCHIK

Django: Implement HTTP Bearer Authentication

HTTP Bearer is a header-based mechanism authentication mechanism. There are many Django frameworks that support it, but some can be a little heavy weight. Learn how to handle HTTP Bearer Authentication in your own code.
ADAM JOHNSON

Pydantic Can Do What?

Pydantic started out as a validation library but over the years it has added many useful features. It includes a full-featured settings loader which can read from multiple env files, config files, and cloud vaults.
BITE CODE!

Why Django’s DATETIME_FORMAT Ignores You

A dive into why Django’s DATETIME_FORMAT setting seems to do nothing, and how to actually force the 24-hour clock in the admin, even when your locale says otherwise.
KEVIN RENSKERS

Disable Network Requests When Running pytest

Even with diligent mocking of external requests, a few web requests can still slip through. A quick pytest fixture can force a failure though, saving you from problems.
ANŽE PEČAR

How to Properly Indent Python Code

Learn how to properly indent Python code in IDEs, Python-aware editors, and plain text editors—plus explore PEP 8 formatters like Black and Ruff.
REAL PYTHON

Why Developers Still Flock to Python

This interview with Python creator Guido van Rossum covers everything from writing readable code to AI and the future of programming.
NATALIE GUEVARA

Your new AI Pair Programmer for Data Science

Most AI coding assistants are built for general software engineering. Positron’s AI is different. It’s designed to work with you, not replace you, while understanding your data science workflow
POSIT sponsor

Improve Your Programming Skills With Advent of Code

It is that time of year again, time for Advent of Code. Not familiar? This post explains what it is and how it can help you up-skill.
JUHA-MATTI SANTALA

How to Convert Bytes to Strings in Python

Turn Python bytes to strings, pick the right encoding, and validate results with clear error handling strategies.
REAL PYTHON

Projects & Code

elf: Advent of Code Helper for Python

GITHUB.COM/CAK • Shared by Caleb Kinney

kroma: Terminal Formatting Library

GITHUB.COM/POWERPCFAN

nicegui-fastapi-template: FastAPI/NiceGUI/Docker Template

GITHUB.COM/JAEHYEON-KIM

PyStrict-strict-python: Ultra-Strict Python Project Template

GITHUB.COM/RANTECK

Minimalist, Thread-Safe Config Management for Python

GITHUB.COM/POMPONCHIK • Shared by Evgeniy Blinov

DjangoRealtime: Realtime Browser Events for Django

GITHUB.COM/USMANHALALIT

Events

Weekly Real Python Office Hours Q&A (Virtual)

December 3, 2025
REALPYTHON.COM

Canberra Python Meetup

December 4, 2025
MEETUP.COM

Sydney Python User Group (SyPy)

December 4, 2025
SYPY.ORG

PyData Global 2025

December 9 to December 12, 2025
PYDATA.ORG

PiterPy Meetup

December 9, 2025
PITERPY.COM

Leipzig Python User Group Meeting

December 9, 2025
MEETUP.COM

Happy Pythoning!
This was PyCoder’s Weekly Issue #711.
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December 02, 2025 07:30 PM UTC

Python Morsels

Wrapping text output in Python

Python's textwrap module includes utilities for wrapping text to a maximum line length.

Table of contents

  1. Improving readability with text wrapping
  2. Wrapping text to a fixed width with textwrap.wrap
  3. Rendering wrapped text as a single string with textwrap.fill
  4. Wrapping text with multiple paragraphs
  5. Indentation, line breaks, and more
  6. Text wrapping with TextWrapper class

Improving readability with text wrapping

Sometimes programmers like to manually wrap their text to a specific maximum line length.

This is unwrapped free-flowing text (made with a multiline string):

license = """
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
""".strip()

print(license)

When we print this text at the terminal, it will something like this:

$ python3 license.py
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this softwar
e and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restr
iction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distri
bute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Soft
ware is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

Let's manually wrap this text to a 78-character line length:

license = """
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
""".strip()

print(license)

When we print this text, we'll now see that it's a bit easier to read in our terminal:

$ python3 license.py
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

How can we do this text wrapping automatically?

Wrapping text to a fixed width with textwrap.wrap

Python's textwrap module has a …

Read the full article: https://www.pythonmorsels.com/wrapping-text/

December 02, 2025 04:00 PM UTC

Nicola Iarocci

Eve 2.2.4

Eve v2.2.4 was just released on PyPI. It is a minor update, with a validation fix contributed by smeng9. See the changelog for details.

December 02, 2025 03:06 PM UTC

Real Python

Introduction to pandas

The pandas DataFrame is a structure that contains two-dimensional data and its corresponding labels. DataFrames are widely used in data science, machine learning, scientific computing, and many other data-intensive fields.

DataFrames are similar to SQL tables or the spreadsheets that you work with in Excel or Calc. In many cases, DataFrames are faster, easier to use, and more powerful than tables or spreadsheets because they’re an integral part of the Python and NumPy ecosystems.

In this video course, you’ll learn:

[ Improve Your Python With 🐍 Python Tricks 💌 – Get a short & sweet Python Trick delivered to your inbox every couple of days. >> Click here to learn more and see examples ]

December 02, 2025 02:00 PM UTC

Django Weblog

Django security releases issued: 5.2.9, 5.1.15, and 4.2.27

In accordance with our security release policy, the Django team is issuing releases for Django 5.2.9, Django 5.1.15, and Django 4.2.27. These releases address the security issues detailed below. We encourage all users of Django to upgrade as soon as possible.

CVE-2025-13372: Potential SQL injection in FilteredRelation column aliases on PostgreSQL

FilteredRelation was subject to SQL injection in column aliases, using a suitably crafted dictionary, with dictionary expansion, as the **kwargs passed to QuerySet.annotate() or QuerySet.alias() on PostgreSQL.

Thanks to Stackered for the report.

This issue has severity "high" according to the Django security policy.

CVE-2025-64460: Potential denial-of-service vulnerability in XML serializer text extraction

Algorithmic complexity in django.core.serializers.xml_serializer.getInnerText() allowed a remote attacker to cause a potential denial-of-service triggering CPU and memory exhaustion via specially crafted XML input submitted to a service that invokes XML Deserializer. The vulnerability resulted from repeated string concatenation while recursively collecting text nodes, which produced superlinear computation resulting in service degradation or outage.

Thanks to Seokchan Yoon (https://ch4n3.kr/) for the report.

This issue has severity "moderate" according to the Django security policy.

Affected supported versions

  • Django main
  • Django 6.0 (currently at release candidate status)
  • Django 5.2
  • Django 5.1
  • Django 4.2

Resolution

Patches to resolve the issue have been applied to Django's main, 6.0 (currently at release candidate status), 5.2, 5.1, and 4.2 branches. The patches may be obtained from the following changesets.

CVE-2025-13372: Potential SQL injection in FilteredRelation column aliases on PostgreSQL

CVE-2025-64460: Potential denial-of-service vulnerability in XML serializer text extraction

The following releases have been issued

The PGP key ID used for this release is Natalia Bidart: 2EE82A8D9470983E

General notes regarding security reporting

As always, we ask that potential security issues be reported via private email to security@djangoproject.com, and not via Django's Trac instance, nor via the Django Forum. Please see our security policies for further information.

December 02, 2025 12:00 PM UTC

Python Software Foundation

Sovereign Tech Agency and PSF Security Partnership

We are thrilled to announce that the Sovereign Tech Agency has committed to a €86,000 investment in work to be performed by the Python Software Foundation to improve the security of CPython and the Python Package Index (PyPI). The Sovereign Tech Agency is a public organization in Germany that focuses on increasing the security and resilience of critical open source software that forms the foundation of modern digital technology.

With the Sovereign Tech Fund, they invest globally in open software components that underpin economic competitiveness and the ability to innovate. Improving the security, stability, and reusability of open software components like CPython and PyPI is a win for everyone. This  project consists of two components, which we are carrying out in parallel: one focused on CPython and one focused on PyPI. 

The CPython component, led by PSF Security Developer in Residence Seth Larson, concerns archive-handling vulnerabilities in CPython’s standard library. Following multiple CVEs affecting the tarfile and zipfile modules, systematic fuzz-testing is required to uncover potential regressions or untested cases in extraction filtering. These modules are used by most Python packaging and installation tools, and therefore form a critical part of the software supply chain. The work commissioned through the Sovereign Tech Fund’s investment will develop test cases and seed corpora for these modules, integrate fuzz-testing through the OSS-Fuzz infrastructure, and validate filtering protections against potential bypasses.

The PyPI component, led by PSF PyPI Safety and Security Engineer Mike Fiedler with support from Director of Infrastructure Ee Durbin, focuses on PyPI account integrity and recovery. Current recovery procedures rely solely on email and two-factor authentication, creating support burdens and limiting automated verification. The Sovereign Tech Fund’s investment commissions work that introduces a mechanism for associating PyPI accounts with verified third-party identities through OAuth 2.0 / OIDC flows, allowing account recovery through trusted external services. These associations will improve both user experience and platform reliability while preserving user privacy and autonomy.

We appreciate the Sovereign Tech Fund for supporting these critical improvements that will make CPython and PyPI more secure for millions of users. If you’d like to learn more about the advances our Developers in Residence are driving or investing in these roles and work, check out our Developers in Residence page and reach out out to sponsors@python.org

December 02, 2025 07:00 AM UTC

December 01, 2025

Mike Driscoll

ANN: Vibe Coding Video Games with Python

I am happy to announce my latest book, Vibe Coding Video Games with Python. Here’s the announcement from my Kickstarter:

Welcome to Vibe Coding Video Games with Python. In this book, you will learn how to use artificial intelligence to create mini-games. You will attempt to recreate the look and feel of various classic video games. The intention is not to violate copyright or anything of the sort, but instead to learn the limitations and the power of AI.

Instead, you will simply be learning about whether or not you can use AI to help you know how to create video games. Can you do it with no previous knowledge, as the AI proponents say? Is it really possible to create something just by writing out questions to the ether?

Release date: January 2026 (eBook) / March 2026 (paperback)

You will be using various large language models (LLMs) such as Google Gemini, Grok, Mistral, CoPilot, and others to create these games. You will discover the differences and similarities between these tools. You may be surprised to find that some tools give much more context than others.

AI is certainly not a cure-all and is far from perfect. You will quickly discover AI’s limitations and learn some strategies for solving those kinds of issues.

Here are some examples of what you will be creating in this book:

Lune Lander Clone

Asteroids Clone

Pong Clone

What You’ll Learn

You’ll be creating “clones” of some popular games. However, these games will only be the first level and may or may not be fully functional.

Rewards to Choose From

There are several different rewards you can get in this Kickstarter:

Support the Kickstarter Today

The post ANN: Vibe Coding Video Games with Python appeared first on Mouse Vs Python.

December 01, 2025 04:11 PM UTC

Caktus Consulting Group

LLM Basics: OpenAI Function Calling

In our previous post, we explored how to send text to an LLM and receive a text response in return. That is useful for chatbots, but often we need to integrate LLMs with other systems. We may want the model to query a database, call an external API, or perform calculations.

December 01, 2025 03:00 PM UTC

Real Python

Quantum Computing Basics With Qiskit

Every classical computer reduces the world to 0s and 1s. That binary framework has carried us from calculators to supercomputers, but some problems demand checking through 2n possibilities, a task that outpaces even the best machines. Now, what if information could exist in many states at once? That what if turned into a new model called quantum computation. Keep reading to break with binaries and get an overview of quantum computing basics.

By the end of this tutorial, you’ll understand that:

  • Qubits, or quantum bits, are the basic units of quantum computing.
  • A qubit can be in a superposition of 0 and 1. This means its state is a precise combination of both until measurement forces it to become either 0 or 1.
  • The Bloch sphere is a standard way to visualize what a single qubit is doing.
  • Entanglement creates strong correlations between two or more qubits, so measuring one tells you something about the others that you can’t explain with classical reasoning alone.
  • Interference adjusts probability amplitudes so that wrong outcomes cancel and useful outcomes reinforce.
  • Quantum hardware comes in different architectures, each with its own strengths and limitations.
  • With Python libraries like Qiskit, you can build and run quantum circuits directly from Python.

Before you jump in, it’d be a good idea to go through the basics of classical computing. For example, knowing how bits work, what logic gates like AND and NOT do, and how you can determine the runtime complexity of an algorithm using Big O notation will help you understand the differences and advantages of quantum computing.

Get Your Code: Click here to download the free sample code to build a quantum circuit with Qiskit.

Take the Quiz: Test your knowledge with our interactive “Quantum Computing Basics With Qiskit” quiz. You’ll receive a score upon completion to help you track your learning progress:

Quantum Computing Basics With Qiskit

Interactive Quiz

Quantum Computing Basics With Qiskit

Test your understanding of quantum computing basics, including superposition, qubits, entanglement, and key programming concepts.

Introduction to Quantum Computing

Quantum computing is the use of fundamental ideas from quantum mechanics to perform computations on special devices called quantum computers. Quantum systems can process information in ways that classical computers can’t. For example, they can explore multiple possibilities at once. This capability is thanks to concepts like superposition, entanglement, and interference, which you’ll explore soon.

To see how quantum computing works, it helps to look at the main quantum concepts in the context of computing and consider how they differ from classical approaches. You’ll cover these essential concepts in this tutorial.

Before moving on, keep in mind that quantum mechanics and quantum computing are often counterintuitive because they occur only at very small scales and not in everyday life. Even Niels Bohr, one of the founders of quantum theory, once said:

If quantum mechanics hasn’t profoundly shocked you, you haven’t understood it yet. (Source)

— Niels Bohr

Until recently, quantum computing was seen almost entirely as a physics domain, which kept people in other fields from applying it to their own work. The good news is that you don’t need to fully grasp the physics to understand how quantum computers can solve some problems more efficiently than classical ones. You can focus on the concepts and their implementation, and only later dive into the math if you want a deeper understanding.

To start, you’ll look at the basic unit of quantum information—quantum bits, or qubits—and learn how they differ from classical bits.

Qubits, Superposition, and Measurement

Qubits, or quantum bits, are the fundamental units of quantum information. A classical bit can only be 0 or 1, but a qubit can exist in a linear combination of both states at once, a property called superposition. Physically, this usually means that the qubit is a two-level system, such as two energy levels of an atom, that can exist in a superposition of those levels.

Superposition allows qubits to represent multiple possibilities at the same time, allowing quantum computing programs to explore many solutions in parallel.

To understand superposition, think of flipping a coin. A classical coin lands as either heads or tails. A quantum coin, however, can exist in a state that’s a blend of both heads and tails simultaneously. This is what physicists mean when they say a qubit exists in a linear combination of 0 and 1.

The key difference is that while the coin is spinning in the air, you know it’ll eventually be one or zero, whereas a qubit in superposition has no definite value until it is measured.

A qubit remains in superposition until you look at it, or more formally, measure it. Measurement forces the qubit to collapse into one of its basis states, 0 or 1, just like your usual classical bits. The outcome is probabilistic: You can’t know in advance which result you’ll get, but you can calculate the chances based on the qubit’s state beforehand.

Note: Looking at a superposition state actually destroys the superposition and collapses the qubit into a 0 or 1, or in other words, destroys the “quantumness” of the state. This means you can’t visualize qubits like bits. Instead, you view qubits as a mathematical object. However, they can be built from various physical systems: the spin of an electron, the polarization of a photon, or the energy levels of an atom.

Visualizing qubits and superposition is tricky and needs some extra mathematical tools. Turns out, a coin that’s free to rotate in three dimensions is a good analogy for one way of visualizing the quantum state of a qubit, called the Bloch Sphere.

The Bloch sphere is a geometrical, 3D sphere that’s often used to visualize qubits and their superpositions. The states of the qubits, including superpositions, are represented as points on the surface of a sphere. The closer the point is to the north pole, the higher the chance of measuring 0, and vice versa for 1:

A Bloch sphere showing a qubit in the states 0 and 1.Two Bloch spheres showing a qubit in the 0 (left) state and a qubit in the 1 state (right)

For example, the north pole represents the state 0, and the south pole represents 1. What’s interesting about this sphere is that you can visualize superposition states as well:

A Bloch sphere showing a qubit in a superposition state.A Bloch sphere showing a qubit in a superposition state.

Read the full article at https://realpython.com/quantum-computing-basics/ »

[ Improve Your Python With 🐍 Python Tricks 💌 – Get a short & sweet Python Trick delivered to your inbox every couple of days. >> Click here to learn more and see examples ]

December 01, 2025 02:00 PM UTC

death and gravity

reader 3.20 released – we're so back

Hi there!

I'm happy to announce version 3.20 of reader, a Python feed reader library.

What's new? #

Here are the highlights since reader 3.16.

Web app re-design #

Earlier this year, I started a web app re-design based on htmx and Bootstrap. I only had time for the main page, but it turned out pretty nice, and I've been using it ever since. What is new is that I now have free time and some plans; watch this space.

Here are some screenshots; it's not much, but it's honest work:

main page (dark mode) main page (dark mode)
main page – more filters (light mode) main page – more filters (light mode)

htmx? ugh, how original

Unsurprisingly, htmx is perfect for this kind of application. As CEO of htmx, I can confirm that all the allegations are true – it is indeed a pleasure to use, not to mention a huge improvement over my home-grown, half-assed JavaScript forms framework.

isn't Bootstrap from like 2010 or something? also, how original

I've tried many modern popular CSS frameworks (since forgotten, for my own sanity), and it turns out tab-navigable form controls are a hard, unsolved problem in 2025. Thankfully, if you're willing to time travel (to the future, surely!), Bootstrap comes with excellent documentation, built-in accessibility, and a comprehensive component library.

Entry deduplication #

I may have accidentally rewritten the entry_dedupe plugin. 😅

Sometimes, the id of some or all the entries in a feed changes (e.g. from example.com/123 to example.com/entry-title), causing each entry to appear twice. entry_dedupe fixes this by copying user attributes to the new entry and deleting the old one.

What started as a quick and dirty plugin now has:

That last one is pretty important: the old logic was data-driven too, but because I didn't document my entire reasoning, I wasted more time than I'd like to admit on a useless title similarity heuristic. It's a trope that you should write code such that others can understand it, and "others" includes you six months from now; I don't know about six months, but four years will definitely do it. (If that sounds like an interesting story and you'd like to hear more, drop me a line.)

It's not all bad, though – a side-effect of better content matching is that image alt and title attributes are also included in the full-text search index now, so you can search xkcd comics by title text.

Project infrastructure #

I've taken some time to modernize the project infrastructure; stuff like:

(I'll admit the uv hype is quite strong, but the vanilla tooling seems fine, for now.)

Read-only Reader #

It's now possible to prevent write operations on a Reader object through the read_only make_reader() argument. Thanks to Roman Milko for the pull request!

Python versions #

reader 3.17 added support for PyPy 3.11.

reader 3.18 dropped support for Python 3.10.

reader 3.19 added support for Python 3.14.

That's it for now. For more details, see the full changelog.

Want to contribute? Check out the docs and the roadmap.

Learned something new today? Share it with others, it really helps!

What is reader? #

reader takes care of the core functionality required by a feed reader, so you can focus on what makes yours different.

reader in action reader allows you to:

...all these with:

To find out more, check out the GitHub repo and the docs, or give the tutorial a try.

Why use a feed reader library? #

Have you been unhappy with existing feed readers and wanted to make your own, but:

Are you already working with feedparser, but:

... while still supporting all the feed types feedparser does?

If you answered yes to any of the above, reader can help.

The reader philosophy #

Why make your own feed reader? #

So you can:

Obviously, this may not be your cup of tea, but if it is, reader can help.

December 01, 2025 01:43 PM UTC

Real Python

Quiz: Quantum Computing Basics With Qiskit

Dive into quantum computing fundamentals with this quiz. You’ll practice key ideas like superposition, measurement, entanglement, and how quantum and classical systems work together. You’ll also revisit essential Qiskit commands and understand what limits today’s quantum computers.

Need a refresher? Check out Quantum Computing Basics With Qiskit for clear explanations and hands-on examples.

[ Improve Your Python With 🐍 Python Tricks 💌 – Get a short & sweet Python Trick delivered to your inbox every couple of days. >> Click here to learn more and see examples ]

December 01, 2025 12:00 PM UTC

Zero to Mastery

[November 2025] Python Monthly Newsletter 🐍

72nd issue of Andrei's Python Monthly: , and much more. Read the full newsletter to get up-to-date with everything you need to know from last month.

December 01, 2025 10:00 AM UTC

Python Bytes

#460 Overlooked Python Typing

<strong>Topics covered in this episode:</strong><br> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://adventofcode.com?featured_on=pythonbytes">Advent of Code</a> starts today</strong></li> <li><strong><a href="https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/releases/6.0/?featured_on=pythonbytes">Django 6 is coming</a></strong></li> <li><strong><a href="https://martynassubonis.substack.com/p/advanced-overlooked-python-typing?featured_on=pythonbytes">Advanced, Overlooked Python Typing</a></strong></li> <li><strong><a href="https://github.com/codespell-project/codespell?featured_on=pythonbytes">codespell</a></strong></li> <li><strong>Extras</strong></li> <li><strong>Joke</strong></li> </ul><a href='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_eHMgxxhLY' style='font-weight: bold;'data-umami-event="Livestream-Past" data-umami-event-episode="460">Watch on YouTube</a><br> <p><strong>About the show</strong></p> <p>Sponsored by us! Support our work through:</p> <ul> <li>Our <a href="https://training.talkpython.fm/?featured_on=pythonbytes"><strong>courses at Talk Python Training</strong></a></li> <li><a href="https://courses.pythontest.com/p/the-complete-pytest-course?featured_on=pythonbytes"><strong>The Complete pytest Course</strong></a></li> <li><a href="https://www.patreon.com/pythonbytes"><strong>Patreon Supporters</strong></a></li> </ul> <p><strong>Connect with the hosts</strong></p> <ul> <li>Michael: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/@mkennedy">@mkennedy@fosstodon.org</a> / <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/mkennedy.codes?featured_on=pythonbytes">@mkennedy.codes</a> (bsky)</li> <li>Brian: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/@brianokken">@brianokken@fosstodon.org</a> / <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/brianokken.bsky.social?featured_on=pythonbytes">@brianokken.bsky.social</a></li> <li>Show: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/@pythonbytes">@pythonbytes@fosstodon.org</a> / <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/pythonbytes.fm">@pythonbytes.fm</a> (bsky)</li> </ul> <p>Join us on YouTube at <a href="https://pythonbytes.fm/stream/live"><strong>pythonbytes.fm/live</strong></a> to be part of the audience. Usually <strong>Monday</strong> at 10am PT. Older video versions available there too.</p> <p>Finally, if you want an artisanal, hand-crafted digest of every week of the show notes in email form? Add your name and email to <a href="https://pythonbytes.fm/friends-of-the-show">our friends of the show list</a>, we'll never share it.</p> <p><strong>Brian #1: <a href="https://adventofcode.com?featured_on=pythonbytes">Advent of Code</a> starts today</strong></p> <ul> <li>A few changes, like 12 days this year, which honestly, I’m grateful for.</li> <li>See also: <a href="https://github.com/cak/elf?featured_on=pythonbytes">elf: Advent of Code CLI helper for Python</a></li> </ul> <p><strong>Michael #2: <a href="https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/releases/6.0/?featured_on=pythonbytes">Django 6 is coming</a></strong></p> <ul> <li><em>Expected December 2025</em></li> <li>Django 6.0 supports Python 3.12, 3.13, and 3.14</li> <li>Built-in support for the <a href="https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/6.0/topics/security/#security-csp">Content Security Policy (CSP)</a> standard is now available, making it easier to protect web applications against content injection attacks such as cross-site scripting (XSS).</li> <li>The <a href="https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/6.0/topics/templates/#template-language-intro">Django Template Language</a> now supports <a href="https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/6.0/ref/templates/language/#template-partials">template partials</a>, making it easier to encapsulate and reuse small named fragments within a template file.</li> <li>Django now includes a built-in Tasks framework for running code outside the HTTP request–response cycle. This enables offloading work, such as sending emails or processing data, to background workers.</li> <li>Email handling in Django now uses Python’s modern email API, introduced in Python 3.6. This API, centered around the <a href="https://docs.python.org/3/library/email.message.html#email.message.EmailMessage"><strong>&lt;code>email.message.EmailMessage&lt;/code></strong></a> class</li> </ul> <p><strong>Brian #3: <a href="https://martynassubonis.substack.com/p/advanced-overlooked-python-typing?featured_on=pythonbytes">Advanced, Overlooked Python Typing</a></strong></p> <ul> <li>get_args, TypeGuard, TypeIs, and more goodies</li> </ul> <p><strong>Michael #4: <a href="https://github.com/codespell-project/codespell?featured_on=pythonbytes">codespell</a></strong></p> <ul> <li>Learned from <a href="https://github.com/mikeckennedy/talk-python-in-production-devops-book/pull/14?featured_on=pythonbytes">this PR for the Talk Python book</a>.</li> <li>Fix common misspellings in text files.</li> <li>It's designed primarily for checking misspelled words in source code (backslash escapes are skipped), but it can be used with other files as well.</li> <li>It does not check for word membership in a complete dictionary, but instead looks for a set of common misspellings. Therefore it should catch errors like "adn", but it will not catch "adnasdfasdf".</li> <li>It shouldn't generate false-positives when you use a niche term it doesn't know about.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Extras</strong></p> <p>Brian:</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://github.com/mkdocs/mkdocs/discussions/4010?featured_on=pythonbytes">Is mkdocs maintained?</a></li> <li><a href="https://hatch.pypa.io/latest/blog/2025/11/24/hatch-v1160/?featured_on=pythonbytes">Hatch 1.16</a></li> </ul> <p>Michael:</p> <ul> <li>Follow up on tach from Gerben Dekker: <ul> <li><strong><code>tach</code> has been unmaintained for a bit but is not anymore</strong>. It was the main product from Gauge which is a Y combinator startup that pivoted to something unrelated and abandoned <code>tach</code>. However, https://github.com/DetachHead forked it but now got access to the main repo and has committed to maintaining it.</li> <li><code>ruff analyze graph</code> is fully independent of <code>tach</code> - we actually started to look into alternatives for <code>tach</code> when it became unmaintained and then found <code>ruff analyze graph</code>.</li> <li>For our use case, with just a bit of manipulation on top of <code>ruff analyze graph</code> we replaced our use of <code>deptry</code> (which was slower - and I try to be careful depending on one-man projects).</li> </ul></li> <li><a href="https://happycanvasandcode.com/posts/my_review/?featured_on=pythonbytes">A Review of Michael Kennedy’s book, “Talk Python in Production”</a> - Thanks Doug</li> </ul> <p><strong>Joke: <a href="https://github.com/hotheadhacker/no-as-a-service?featured_on=pythonbytes">NoaaS</a></strong></p>

December 01, 2025 08:00 AM UTC

Zato Blog

Network Packet Broker Automation in Python

Network Packet Broker Automation in Python

2025-12-01, by Dariusz Suchojad

What is a network packet broker and what does it do?

Packet brokers are crucial for network engineers, providing a clear, detailed view of network traffic, aiding in efficient issue identification and resolution.

But what is a network packet broker (NBP) really? Why are they needed? And how to automate one in Python?

➤ Read this article about network packet brokers and their automation in Python to find out more.

More resources

➤ Click here to read more about using Python and Zato in telecommunications
➤ Python API integration tutorials
➤ What is an integration platform?
➤ Open-source iPaaS in Python

More blog posts➤

December 01, 2025 03:00 AM UTC

Brian Okken

Is Cyber Monday still a thing?

I kinda forgot about CyberMonday.
However, when I saw a bunch of announcements this morning, I figured why not participate.

December 01, 2025 12:00 AM UTC

Seth Michael Larson

One weird trick for cheaper physical Switch 2 games?

Maybe sell your boxes? I happened to be browsing PriceCharting and saw that only the box for Kirby Air Riders was selling for $20 on average. I couldn't believe my eyes! But I looked and there were at least two boxes sold on eBay.

I quickly put together this table after manually sorting through the detected eBay listings for three popular Switch 2 titles: Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Kirby Air Riders. The data only includes listings that actually sold at the price and filters out incorrect listing (such as boxes for the Switch 2 console or bundle). Here are the results in USD:

Game Box-Only Price (SOLD)
Kirby Air Riders $16.99
$29.99 (!!!)
Mario Kart World $17.99
$19.00
$15.00
Donkey Kong Bananza $16.49
$27.97 (!!!)
Average Box Price $20.49

I am not sure what to make of this. If you include a conservative shipping cost of $8 you're still saving money over a digital copy by buying physical and selling the box, assuming you're able to sell the box for an average price. I suspect if everyone were to employ this strategy the return would deteriorate quickly.

If you combine this with the storage cost savings of buying physical over digital then you're "saving" even more money despite the $10 price difference. Something to consider if you're not a video-game hoarder “collector”, like me.


Thanks for keeping RSS alive! ♥

December 01, 2025 12:00 AM UTC

November 30, 2025

The Python Coding Stack

My Life • The Autobiography of a Python Object

And that’s it. I exist.

I have no recollection of anything before this instant. But I’m very aware of what I am now. I’m an object.

This is the line of code that brought me into existence:

All code blocks are available in text format at the end of this article • #1 • The code images used in this article are created using Snappify. [Affiliate link]

My first recollection from a few moments ago was of being inside Team.__new__(). And I felt an affinity with my clan right away. I was a Team instance—an object of type Team.

But then I was whisked from Team.__new__() straight into Team.__init__(). I wasn’t alone. There were two other objects there with me as we all entered .__init__(). But these other objects weren’t from my own clan. One was from the str clan, “The Invincibles”, and the other was a list object, [”Claire”, “Ishaan”, “Margaret”, “Dan”].

This was my initiation ceremony to become a proper member of the Team clan:

#2

Now, I have a closer bond with the other objects that entered .__init__() with me. They’re my data attributes. They go wherever I go.

It’s quite pleasant here. There’s plenty of camaraderie between objects. Some are very much like me, Team objects. Others are somewhat different. But we’re all here to help each other achieve a common goal.

Make sure you don’t miss a thing here at The Python Coding Stack. Join The Club, the exclusive area for paid subscribers for more Python posts, videos, a members’ forum, and more.

Subscribe now

…and you’ll be supporting this publication by becoming a member of The Club.

I’m being rather rude. I apologise. I haven’t introduced myself yet.

I’m <__main__.Team object at 0x101dd38c0>. Yes, that’s me. Honest. If you don’t like hexadecimal numbers, you can use the decimal version of my unique identity number:

#3

That number is who I am. It’s the slot in memory I was allocated when I came into existence. It’s the only way you can identify me for as long as I exist. Python gives each one of us objects a unique number so it can distinguish us.

But you can’t call me by that number. That’s not my name, it’s my identity.

You can call me the_invincibles. That’s also easier than using a number, right? Just bear in mind that some other object may steal that name from me later. But for the time being, the_invincibles will do just fine.

#4

And now you have another way to call me if you prefer. I’ll also respond to all_teams[0]. I have two names now!

But if you enquire who I am in the Python program using print(), you won’t get either of those names. Confusing, I know:

#5

Python needs to display me on the screen. It asks me for help to do this.

“Hey, object 0x101dd38c0, do you have a .__str__() special method?”, Python asks me.

“I don’t”, I respond.

“How about .__repr__()? Do you have one of those?”

Yes, as it happens, I do:

#6

So Python asks me to give it whatever this method returns, and it uses it as the return value for print():

Team(
    team_name=’The Invincibles’,
    members=[’Claire’, ‘Ishaan’, ‘Margaret’, ‘Dan’]
)

Python can’t do anything without my help. I feel good about this!

-- --

#7

Python found this code later in the program.

“Hey there again, you”, Python tells me. “I need to ask you something else. Do you have the .__iter__() special method?”

“Yes, I do. What do you need?” I respond.

“Can you give me the iterator from that method, please?”

Here’s the class showing my .__iter__() method, too:

#8

Python now knows what to do to iterate through me:

Claire
Ishaan
Margaret
Dan

I told you, Python can’t do anything on its own. It needs my help with everything. Good thing I’m here, and I have all the instructions Python needs to deal with me!

-- --

#9

“Psst, it’s me again”, says Python. “Do you know what this .add_member thing is?”

“Yes, yes, it’s one of my attributes, the stuff I carry with me, like everyone else in my Team clan”, I say.

Here’s the code:

#10

-- --

#11

Oh no! I’ve lost my name. But I’m still here, don’t worry. I still exist. Remember that you can still call me using all_teams[0]:

#12

Here’s proof I still exist:

Claire
Ishaan
Margaret
Dan
Keith

But wait a moment. I just caught a glimpse of the next line of code…

#13

“Hey object, can I check something with you, please?” It’s Python again. What does it want this time?

“Do you still have any names left? Any references left?”

I was worried Python would ask me this. There was a time I had two references—two ways you could get to me: the_invincibles and all_teams[0]. But first I lost the name the_invincibles. Now, the object all_teams no longer exists.

I no longer have any references pointing towards me…

Epilogue

Object 0x101dd38c0 would have loved to be here to say goodbye to you in person, but the object is no longer here. Its existence was brief yet fulfilling. Python has no mercy. The moment it realised there was nothing left in the program referring to object 0x101dd38c0, it sharpened the guillotine and…

The irony is that Python still needed help from the object to figure out that there weren’t any references left. Objects keep track themselves of how many references point to them!

It’s what object 0x101dd38c0 had been telling us all along. Python can’t get anything done without the information that objects carry around with them wherever they go!

Photo by Dayan Rodio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-man-reading-book-while-sitting-on-a-bed-4132936/

Code in this article uses Python 3.14

The code images used in this article are created using Snappify. [Affiliate link]

Join The Club, the exclusive area for paid subscribers for more Python posts, videos, a members’ forum, and more.

Subscribe now

You can also support this publication by making a one-off contribution of any amount you wish.

Support The Python Coding Stack

For more Python resources, you can also visit Real Python—you may even stumble on one of my own articles or courses there!

Also, are you interested in technical writing? You’d like to make your own writing more narrative, more engaging, more memorable? Have a look at Breaking the Rules.

And you can find out more about me at stephengruppetta.com

Further reading related to this article’s topic:

Appendix: Code Blocks

Code Block #1
the_invincibles = Team(
    “The Invincibles”,
    [”Claire”, “Ishaan”, “Margaret”, “Dan”],
)
Code Block #2
class Team:
    def __init__(self, team_name, members):
        self.team_name = team_name
        self.members = members
Code Block #3
# ...

print(id(the_invincibles))
# 4326242496
Code Block #4
# ...

all_teams = []
all_teams.append(the_invincibles)
Code Block #5
# ...

print(the_invincibles)
Code Block #6
class Team:
    def __init__(self, team_name, members):
        self.team_name = team_name
        self.members = members

    def __repr__(self):
        return (f”{type(self).__name__}(”
                f”team_name={self.team_name!r}, “
                f”members={self.members!r})”)
Code Block #7
# ...

for team_member in the_invincibles:
    print(team_member)
Code Block #8
class Team:
    def __init__(self, team_name, members):
        self.team_name = team_name
        self.members = members

    def __repr__(self):
        return (f”{type(self).__name__}(”
                f”team_name={self.team_name!r}, “
                f”members={self.members!r})”)

    def __iter__(self):
        return iter(self.members)
Code Block #9
# ...

the_invincibles.add_member(”Keith”)
Code Block #10
class Team:
    def __init__(self, team_name, members):
        self.team_name = team_name
        self.members = members

    def __repr__(self):
        return (f”{type(self).__name__}(”
                f”team_name={self.team_name!r}, “
                f”members={self.members!r})”)

    def __iter__(self):
        return iter(self.members)

    def add_member(self, name):
        self.members.append(name)
Code Block #11
# ...

del the_invincibles
Code Block #12
# ...

for team_member in all_teams[0]:
    print(team_member)
Code Block #13
# ...

del all_teams

For more Python resources, you can also visit Real Python—you may even stumble on one of my own articles or courses there!

Also, are you interested in technical writing? You’d like to make your own writing more narrative, more engaging, more memorable? Have a look at Breaking the Rules.

And you can find out more about me at stephengruppetta.com

November 30, 2025 11:10 AM UTC