
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Python - kercker
http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/
======
lalaithion
It's really annoying to see people still recommending Python 2.7 for new
users/projects. If security updates really do stop in 2020, then we have 3.5
years until any deployed software written in Python 2.7 is useless, as it will
be insecure.

~~~
cgriswald
I'm not running an OS written in Python. I'm processing some data. I control
the data and I'm doing it all locally. Security is very low on my list of
concerns. And I'm using libraries that aren't and may never be updated to
Python 3. Ideally they would be. If I get ambitious maybe I'll even be the one
to do it. For other things, I use Python 3.

The article is talking to me. To paraphrase: _Use Python 3 unless you have a
good reason to use Python 2._

That advice is solid and not really a recommendation of Python 2.

~~~
vegabook
I have exactly the same situation. But I have to admit to a slight preference
for using Python 2 because it just feels more "fluid" somehow. Less demanding.
Less "serious". And just as effective (I don't need async).

However I have now submitted to the baying hounds of doom and moved to 3 on
most stuff for the reasons of "having a future", security, etc. Was pushed.
Didn't jump.

One thing I will give 3 though is the stupidly simple thing that 3/2 = 1.5.
Quite often I have to fire up python for a quick and dirty calc and it's much
better not to have to remember the integer division quirk.

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monkmartinez
No Anaconda[1], porque? I am a big fan of the Anaconda distribution and
workflow... am I alone? I would find that hard to believe.

[1][https://www.continuum.io/downloads](https://www.continuum.io/downloads)

~~~
analog31
You're not alone. I appreciate Anaconda, though I happen to use WinPython
right now. In fact I keep a WinPython installer in my pocket on a flash drive.

The most important thing is that I can get a relatively vanilla Python program
running on any computer that I bump into, without creating a potential future
headache for the person who owns that computer. WinPython is _almost_ like an
isolated environment.

But at the very least, if their instructions ensure that you can get an
installation to the point of running the tutorial programs successfully, and
learning Python rather than fussing with installers, I'm OK with it.

~~~
voltagex_
I don't think I've ever used any non python.org distributions - what's the
difference between Anaconda and WinPython?

Edit: Aha, Anaconda seems to be tailored towards data analytics and includes
R.

~~~
glaberficken
Not sure about the difference between Anaconda and WinPython, but I can tell
you that Anaconda was what I found when I needed to install python on Windows
at work without admin rights. It works really well and installs most packages
you would need.

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eevilspock
On Flask vs Django:

> _Flask is a “microframework” for Python, and is an excellent choice for
> building smaller applications, APIs, and web services._

> _Flask is default choice for any Python web application that isn’t a good
> fit for Django._

Not very helpful. What is the threshold between "smaller" and larger
applications? What makes an app not "a good fit for Django"? I've never found
clear answers to these questions, mostly just vague opinion. This Hitchhiker's
Guide, a self-proclaimed opinionated guide, could really take off if it got
some opinion and backed it up with real rationale.

~~~
johnwheeler
the way i've always looked at it is that django was python's answer to RoR,
and it was great at the time, but it doesn't embrace decorators or context
locals--two things which make the flask API beautiful.

and, when you compare sqlalchemy to django's ORM -- Sqlalchemy is more
powerful. i can't give specific reasons why. I think zzzeek is just insanely
focused and that beat out design by committee. (mitsuhiko too incidentally).
maybe that's wrong, just my intuition. sqlalchemy is probably the best orm in
_any_ language.

there's a huge django community that would disagree, but you don't see
concrete reasons why django is better than flask, but flask is better than
django for the simple reasons i mention.

they're not different meant for large and small apps. everything django can do
flask can do better, cleaner, simpler.

~~~
xorcist
> django was python's answer to RoR,

More like children of the same era. Django is older.

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NetStrikeForce
Given the name, I am disappointed it doesn't start with "don't panic" nor it
seems to tell how to include your towel in your Python projects.

~~~
BerislavLopac
You don't want to overly combine two amazing pieces of British humour in one
place. The universe might collapse. ;-)

~~~
kenneth_reitz
Some speculate that it already has.

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rcarmo
Doesn't even mention bottle, which is weird in this day and age.
Opinionated... Check.

~~~
voltagex_
You could add it: [https://github.com/kennethreitz/python-
guide/](https://github.com/kennethreitz/python-guide/)

~~~
RubyPinch
you can add it only if kenneth wants it near his opinion

[https://github.com/kennethreitz/python-
guide/pull/506](https://github.com/kennethreitz/python-guide/pull/506)

[https://github.com/kennethreitz/python-
guide/pull/723](https://github.com/kennethreitz/python-guide/pull/723)

------
canada_dry
A quick scan for "lambda" results in but a whisper.

"Sigh"... Marvin.

