Python News Wrap-Up for June 2022

Video games, puzzles, Martian data, and updated PEPs! Several fun Python-related events kicked off the summer.

Hello Grokking Python readers, and happy Thursday! 

The Python News Wrap-Up summarizes some of the most notable Python-related events, updates, and changes for the month. It’s a great way to glimpse what other Python developers and enthusiasts have been talking about, so stay tuned for future entries!

First, as a quick reminder, we're heading into an exciting conference-filled month for Python. You can expect an excellent lineup of speakers at several upcoming conferences in July, so make sure to snag a ticket before it's too late! Attending conferences is one of the fastest ways to immerse yourself in the Python community.

Now, moving onto the main course, here are some of the most notable Python-related events that happened in June!

PyBoy v1.5.1 is out

Rejoice, game developers and gaming enthusiasts! The latest release of PyBoy, a popular Game Boy emulator built entirely from scratch in Python, was recently announced by Mads Ynddal (@baekalfen). Mads, along with Asger Anders Lund Hansen (@AsgerLundHansen) and Troels Ynddal (@troelsy), are the three original developers who worked to bring this project to life.

The latest version includes support for Game Boy Color, Link Cable emulation, and a time rewind feature.

If you are a budding Python developer passionate about game development, PyBoy is a fantastic open-source project to tinker around with. PyBoy is effortless to install and use to start making your own games. You only need a working Python environment on your machine to install it.

Source: @Baekalfen

Check out the official GitHub repo for PyBoy, and have some fun!

New features in Python 3.10.5

Source: Python.org

The latest major release of the Python programming language contained over 230 bug fixes and documentation changes, so you’ll want to take a quick look at what has been added. This update significantly improved debugging, parenthesized context managers, typing syntax, error messages, and structural pattern matching.

Here are some of the major new features:

• PEP 623 - Deprecate and prepare for the removal of the wstr member in PyUnicodeObject

• PEP 604 - Allow writing union types as X | Y

• PEP 612 - Parameter Specification Variables

• PEP 626 - Precise line numbers for debugging and other tools

• PEP 618 - Add Optional Length-Checking To zip

• bpo-12782: Parenthesized context managers are now officially allowed

• PEP 632 - Deprecate distutils module

• PEP 613 - Explicit Type Aliases

• PEP 634 - Structural Pattern Matching: Specification

• PEP 635 - Structural Pattern Matching: Motivation and Rationale

• PEP 636 - Structural Pattern Matching: Tutorial

• PEP 644 - Require OpenSSL 1.1.1 or newer

• PEP 624 - Remove Py_UNICODE encoder APIs

• PEP 597 - Add optional EncodingWarning

GeoPython 2022 has concluded

The GeoPython 2022 conference took place from June 20 to 22 in Basel, Switzerland, and online. There were participants from over 40 countries and a wide range of topics covering GIS/Mapping, spatial databases, machine learning, smart cities, and more.

Kristian Thy (he/him) @kristiandotdk

Massive interest in the @dask_dev-@geopandas workshop by @martinfleis and @jorisvdbossche at @GeoPythonConf today. Great start to the final day in Muttenz.

If geosciences are your niche, this is an incredible conference to attend as a Python developer.

Some of the talks included:

• Cloud for Mars: Python tools to planetary data access through EOSC

• The Silence of Global Oceans: Acoustic Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdowns

• Robyn: An async web framework written in Rust

If these sound interesting, check out the complete list of talks here.

Missed this year’s conference, and don’t want to miss the next? Follow @GeoPythonConf on Twitter to stay updated for 2023.

The results of the 2021 Python Developers Survey are out

The fifth-annual Python Developers Survey collected responses from over 23,000 Python developers and enthusiasts across the globe. If you’re curious about the current state of the Python ecosystem, take 5 or 10 minutes to check out the results.

If you use Django, the second most popular Python framework, then you’re in luck. The 2021 Django Developers Survey is out as well.

Bonus Announcement: New Python course on Educative

We collaborated with The Pragmatic Programmers to bring our learners a quick, intermediate-level course with 30 Python brain teasers.

If you love solving puzzles, then Python Brain Teasers is an enjoyable way to exercise your creative problem-solving skills. You’ll also improve your Python development skills by working on interesting problems like 12 Angry Men, Attention Seekers, and Where’s Waldo.

These puzzles aren’t for the faint of heart, so brush up on your Python skills before taking on these challenges.

That’s all for now!

There is always something new happening in the Python community, and that lively spirit of innovation is just one reason we love Python at Educative. If you’re enjoying Grokking Python and want to dive into more interactive material, visit Educative to try some of our Python courses!

We have Python courses for web development, data science, machine learning, interview prep, and more.

As always, happy learning!