How to Build Good Coding Habits as a New Python Developer

The article says new Python developers should build habits early because readable code is easier for others to understand and easier to debug later. It points to PEP 8, newer Python versions, comments, linters, built-in functions and libraries, and quick bug fixes as practical habits.

Reading notes

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• Follow the PEP 8 style guide for indentation, line length, line breaks, blank lines and naming conventions.
• Use Python 3 instead of Python 2, and check the minimum required Python version for third-party modules, frameworks or repositories.
• Write descriptive, succinct comments so code is easier to understand later; Python uses # for single-line comments and triple quotes for multi-line comments.
• Use a linter to catch spacing issues, line length problems, syntax problems, misspellings and stylistic inconsistencies.
• Rely on built-in functions and libraries instead of writing everything from scratch, and import libraries when needed.
• Fix code issues as soon as you notice them, since bugs and errors compound over time.
• Use the logging module to track runtime events, warnings and debugging information during testing.
• Keep practicing, write small projects, and read other developers’ code to learn from their approach.