Summary Alex Martelli has dedicated a large part of his career to teaching others how to work with software. He has the highest number of Python questions answered on Stack Overflow, he has written and co-written a number of books on Python, and presented innumerable times at conferences in multiple countries. We spoke to him about how he got started in software, his work with Google, and the trends in development and design patterns that are shaping modern software engineering. Brief Introduction Hello and welcome to Podcast.__init__, the podcast about Python and the people who make it great. I would like to thank everyone who has donated to the show. Your contributions help us make the show sustainable. For details on how to support the show you can visit our site at pythonpodcast.com Linode is sponsoring us this week. Check them out at linode.com/podcastinit and get a $20 credit to try out their fast and reliable Linux virtual servers for your next project We also have a returning sponsor this week. Rollbar is a service for tracking and aggregating your application errors so that you can find and fix the bugs in your application before your users notice they exist. Use the link rollbar.com/podcastinit to get 90 days and 300,000 errors for free on their bootstrap plan. Hired is sponsoring us this week. If you’re looking for a job as a developer or designer then Hired will bring the opportunities to you. Sign up at hired.com/podcastinit to double your signing bonus. Visit our site to subscribe to our show, sign up for our newsletter, read the show notes, and get in touch. To help other people find the show you can leave a review on iTunes, or Google Play Music, and tell your friends and co-workers. Join our community! Visit discourse.pythonpodcast.com for your opportunity to find out about upcoming guests, suggest questions, and propose show ideas. Your hosts as usual are Tobias Macey and Chris Patti Today we’re interviewing Alex Martelli Interview with Alex Martelli Introductions How did you get introduced to Python? – Chris You have achieved a number of honors and recognitions throughout your career for significant technical achievements. What kind of learning strategies do you use to enable you to achieve mastery of technical topics? – Tobias How do you keep the Python In A Nutshell book current as aspects of the core language and its libraries change? – Chris You are known for your prolific contributions to Stack Overflow, particularly on topics pertaining to Python. Was that a specific goal that you had set for yourself or did it happen organically? – Tobias When answering Stack Overflow questions, do you usually already know the answers or do you treat it as a learning opportunity? – Tobias What are some of the most difficult Python questions that you have been faced with? – Tobias You have presented quite a number of times at various Python conferences. What are some of your favorite talks? – Tobias Design patterns and idiomatic code are common themes in a number of your presentations. Why is it important for developers to understand these concepts and what are some of your favorite resources on the topic? – Tobias What do you see as the most influential trends in software development and design, both currently and heading into the future? – Tobias As a long-time computer engineer, are there any features or ideas from other languages that you would like to see incorporated into Python? Picks Tobias The Great Gatsby Movie Chris Stone Ruination Double IPA Ghost Soldiers Alex Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow Hamilton Musical Links Permission or Forgiveness Good enough is good enough Modern Python Patterns and Idioms Handling Errors and Exceptions in Modern Python Microservices Google SRE Book Python In A Nutshell use code AUTHD for a discount The intro and outro music is from Requiem for a Fish The Freak Fandango Orchestra / CC BY-SA