Real Python Cohort-Based Course

Intermediate Python Deep Dive: Write Better Python and Build Better Systems

Stephen Gruppetta
Stephen Gruppetta 248 Lessons 29h 37m intermediate
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Welcome to the course! I’m looking forward to meeting you all in our live sessions and on the forum. This page is the hub for the course where you’ll find each day’s content and key resources.

How This Course Works

  • We’ll meet for a live lesson every Thursday to dive deep into new concepts.
  • In addition, there are two live Q&A sessions each week, giving you more opportunities to ask questions and get feedback.
  • You’ll find each day’s content below—use the Resume button to get to where you left off the previous day.

Stay Connected on the Forum

An important part of this course is the forum, which is exclusive to the course’s students. The discussions we’ll have every day on the forum will be the glue that connects all the material you cover in this course. Be sure to participate to ask questions, gain insights, and learn from both instructors and fellow students.

Zoom link for all the live sessions:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88142253693?pwd=EDyEsFT0anU8labN6DghRxgdEfuJV3.1

What’s Included:

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Day 1 - Monday (Week 1)

10 Lessons 1h 11m

  1. 1. Welcome From Your Instructor03:57
  2. 2. Course Kick-Off Meeting00:30
  3. 3. The Course Forum02:37
  4. 4. A Review of Object-Oriented Programming37:30
  5. 5. What is Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)?03:37
  6. 6. Classes in Python03:16
  7. 7. Class and Instance Attributes05:58
  8. 8. Adding Attributes to a Python Class06:51
  9. 9. Adding Methods to a Python Class05:52
  10. 10. Exercise: Practice Writing a Class01:00

Day 2 - Tuesday (Week 1)

11 Lessons 52m

  1. 1. Exercise: Jake's Stall at The Market01:00
  2. 2. An Object's Identity, Type, and Value03:22
  3. 3. Variables and How They're Linked to Objects in Python01:14
  4. 4. Variable Assignment06:29
  5. 5. Object References04:52
  6. 6. Object Value vs Object Identity03:04
  7. 7. Small Integer Caching04:11
  8. 8. Identity: Recap01:34
  9. 9. Optional: Watch the Remaining Lessons in the Variables Course01:00
  10. 10. Python '!=' Is Not 'is not': Comparing Objects in Python25:00
  11. 11. Live Instructor Q&A Today00:30

Day 3 - Wednesday (Week 1)

6 Lessons 1h 50m

  1. 1. Introducing Inheritance02:46
  2. 2. How Do You Inherit from Another Class?24:30
  3. 3. OOP Inheritance04:35
  4. 4. Inheritance Example08:22
  5. 5. Inheritance and Composition69:30
  6. 6. Exercise: Revisiting Jake, The Market Seller01:00

Day 4 - Thursday (Week 1)

1 Lesson 1m

  1. 1. Live session01:30

Day 5 - Friday (Week 1)

14 Lessons 39m

  1. 1. Creating and Initializing Objects01:33
  2. 2. Using Python Class Constructors (Overview)01:23
  3. 3. Introducing the Instantiation Process03:20
  4. 4. Exploring the Instantiation Process06:27
  5. 5. Initializing Objects With .__init__()07:40
  6. 6. Creating Objects With .__new__()00:50
  7. 7. Providing Custom Object Creators03:49
  8. 8. Subclassing Immutable Built-in Types02:55
  9. 9. Returning Instances of a Different Class02:18
  10. 10. Allowing Only a Single Instance in Your Class02:20
  11. 11. Partially Emulating collections.namedtuple04:20
  12. 12. Using Python Class Constructors (Summary)01:01
  13. 13. Live Instructor Q&A Today00:30
  14. 14. Weekend Fun Activity (Optional)01:30

Day 6 - Monday (Week 2)

9 Lessons 37m

  1. 1. Using Special Methods to Explore Python's Core Topics04:12
  2. 2. When to Use .__repr__() vs .__str__() in Python (Overview)02:29
  3. 3. Displaying Object Information08:13
  4. 4. Understanding Responses From Literals04:10
  5. 5. Delving Into Strings04:24
  6. 6. Calling Non-Functions04:39
  7. 7. Customizing Objects07:22
  8. 8. When to Use .__repr__() vs .__str__() in Python (Summary)01:56
  9. 9. Exercise: Adding String Representations to Product and Sandwich00:30

Day 7 - Tuesday (Week 2)

6 Lessons 1h 21m

  1. 1. How Operators Are Linked to Special Methods00:37
  2. 2. Supporting Operator Overloading in Custom Classes42:00
  3. 3. Implementing Custom Sequences and Mappings07:30
  4. 4. What Does a Data Structure Contain?06:05
  5. 5. Shallow vs Deep Copying of Python Objects25:00
  6. 6. Live Instructor Q&A Today00:30

Day 8 - Wednesday (Week 2)

14 Lessons 49m

  1. 1. A Short Intro to Data Classes03:03
  2. 2. Using Data Classes in Python (Overview)00:55
  3. 3. Comparison to Standard Classes03:43
  4. 4. Alternatives to Standard Classes06:25
  5. 5. Basic Data Classes06:26
  6. 6. More Flexible Data Classes01:34
  7. 7. Advanced Default Values06:02
  8. 8. Data Classes for Representation03:17
  9. 9. Data Classes for Comparison06:14
  10. 10. Immutable Data Classes03:02
  11. 11. Inheritance and Subclassing03:18
  12. 12. Optimization of Data Classes03:17
  13. 13. Using Data Classes in Python (Summary)00:47
  14. 14. Exercise: Creating a Recipe Data Class01:00

Day 9 - Thursday (Week 2)

1 Lesson 1m

  1. 1. Live Session01:30

Day 10 - Friday (Week 2)

9 Lessons 1h 10m

  1. 1. The Iterator Protocol and Pythonic Looping02:26
  2. 2. Efficient Iterations With Python Iterators and Iterables (Overview)01:30
  3. 3. Getting Started06:51
  4. 4. Understanding Iterator Objects08:38
  5. 5. Transforming and Generating Data05:30
  6. 6. Iterators and Iterables in Python: Run Efficient Iterations44:00
  7. 7. Exercise: Making a Custom Iterable01:00
  8. 8. Live Instructor Q&A Today00:30
  9. 9. Weekend Fun Activity (Optional)00:30

Day 11 - Monday (Week 3)

8 Lessons 28m

  1. 1. Pythonic Looping03:03
  2. 2. Understanding Python List Comprehensions (Overview)01:11
  3. 3. How to Create Lists in Python04:50
  4. 4. How to Supercharge Your Comprehensions05:04
  5. 5. When Not to Use a List Comprehension in Python06:27
  6. 6. Understanding Python List Comprehensions (Summary)01:09
  7. 7. Revisiting the Iterator Protocol06:29
  8. 8. End of Day00:30

Day 12 - Tuesday (Week 3)

16 Lessons 1h 9m

  1. 1. More Pythonic Looping Using zip() and enumerate()01:16
  2. 2. Parallel Iteration With Python's zip() Function (Overview)00:34
  3. 3. The zip() Function07:38
  4. 4. Python Versions08:02
  5. 5. Traversing Iterables09:27
  6. 6. Applications09:21
  7. 7. Parallel Iteration With Python's zip() Function (Summary)00:41
  8. 8. Looping With Python enumerate() (Overview)01:04
  9. 9. Iterating Without enumerate()08:34
  10. 10. Using enumerate()04:22
  11. 11. Understanding enumerate()01:18
  12. 12. Building my_enum()02:51
  13. 13. Working With my_enum()08:50
  14. 14. Looping With Python enumerate() (Summary)01:12
  15. 15. Exercise: Let's Make Sure You're Comfortable With zip() and enumerate()03:30
  16. 16. Live Instructor Q&A Today00:30

Day 13 - Wednesday (Week 3)

12 Lessons 2h 6m

  1. 1. Generators, Generator Expressions, and Generator Functions00:46
  2. 2. Iterating With Generators07:12
  3. 3. Exploring Iterator Specifics04:59
  4. 4. Going Deeper on the Iterator Protocol07:26
  5. 5. Efficient Iterations With Python Iterators and Iterables (Summary)04:29
  6. 6. Python Generators 101 (Overview)03:28
  7. 7. Understanding Generators11:33
  8. 8. Using Advanced Generator Methods07:43
  9. 9. Creating Data Pipelines With Generators04:45
  10. 10. Python Generators 101 (Summary)03:35
  11. 11. [Optional] How to Use Generators and yield in Python64:30
  12. 12. Exercise: Generators06:00

Day 14 - Thursday (Week 3)

1 Lesson 1m

  1. 1. Live Lesson01:30

Day 15 - Friday (Week 3)

5 Lessons 4h 6m

  1. 1. How Groups of Special Methods Define Data Structure Categories01:30
  2. 2. Python Sequences: A Comprehensive Guide120:00
  3. 3. Python Mappings: A Comprehensive Guide124:00
  4. 4. Live Instructor Q&A Today00:30
  5. 5. Weekend Fun Activity (Optional)00:30

Day 16 - Monday (Week 4)

9 Lessons 41m

  1. 1. Focus on Functions01:07
  2. 2. [Optional] Review Function Basics: Defining and Calling Python Functions01:27
  3. 3. [Optional] Functions in Python02:01
  4. 4. [Optional] Why Use Functions?04:39
  5. 5. [Optional] Function Calls and Definitions06:47
  6. 6. Positional Arguments08:32
  7. 7. Keyword Arguments04:27
  8. 8. Positional and Keyword Arguments10:30
  9. 9. Exercise: Positional and Keyword Arguments01:30

Day 17 - Tuesday (Week 4)

5 Lessons 21m

  1. 1. Introducing Default Arguments01:25
  2. 2. Default Parameters05:03
  3. 3. Mutable Default Parameter Values06:26
  4. 4. Default Parameters and Default Parameters with Mutable Values08:00
  5. 5. Live Instructor Q&A today00:30

Day 18 - Wednesday (Week 4)

5 Lessons 27m

  1. 1. Pass-By-Reference, Pass-By-Value, and Pass-By-Assignment01:26
  2. 2. Pass-By-Value vs Pass-By-Reference in C++10:29
  3. 3. Pass-By-Value vs Pass-By-Reference in Python07:22
  4. 4. Passing Mutable Objects and Side Effects03:51
  5. 5. Argument Passing Summary04:30

Day 19 - Thursday (Week 4)

1 Lesson 1m

  1. 1. Live Lesson01:30

Day 20 - Friday (Week 4)

13 Lessons 1h 29m

  1. 1. Introducing args and kwargs01:27
  2. 2. Python args and kwargs: Demystified36:30
  3. 3. Python args and kwargs Demystified: The Video Course01:56
  4. 4. Using the Python args Variable in Function Definitions02:36
  5. 5. Using the Python kwargs Variable in Function Definitions01:08
  6. 6. Ordering Arguments in a Function01:03
  7. 7. Unpacking With the Asterisk Operators05:14
  8. 8. Python args and kwargs: Demystified (Summary)00:32
  9. 9. Keyword-Only and Positional-Only Arguments19:30
  10. 10. Keyword-Only Arguments08:08
  11. 11. Bare Variable Argument Parameter06:18
  12. 12. Positional-Only Arguments04:27
  13. 13. Live Instructor Q&A Today00:30

Day 21 - Monday (Week 5)

2 Lessons 2h 26m

  1. 1. Scoping Rules, Closures, and Decorators00:37
  2. 2. Python Scope & the LEGB Rule: Resolving Names in Your Code146:00

Day 22 - Tuesday (Week 5)

8 Lessons 1h 14m

  1. 1. Closures00:43
  2. 2. Python Closures: Common Use Cases and Examples44:30
  3. 3. Exploring Scopes and Closures in Python: Code Conversation03:22
  4. 4. Debugging the outer() Function06:55
  5. 5. Stepping Through inner_returned()02:47
  6. 6. Inspecting Dunder Objects08:58
  7. 7. Recapping Scopes and Closures06:44
  8. 8. Live Instructor Q&A today00:30

Day 23 - Wednesday (Week 5)

22 Lessons 1h 17m

  1. 1. Decorators00:59
  2. 2. Decorators Course Introduction and Overview00:47
  3. 3. An Example Function02:45
  4. 4. Functions as First-Class Objects in Python03:08
  5. 5. Inner Functions02:37
  6. 6. Returning Functions From Functions03:23
  7. 7. Section 1 Review00:56
  8. 8. Overview of Section 2 on Decorators00:31
  9. 9. Simple Decorators06:16
  10. 10. Syntactic Sugar02:53
  11. 11. Reusing Decorators02:37
  12. 12. Decorating Functions With Arguments06:10
  13. 13. Returning Values From Decorated Functions03:22
  14. 14. Who Are You, Really?05:45
  15. 15. Section 2 Review01:20
  16. 16. Overview of Section 3 with Real-World Examples02:09
  17. 17. Timing Functions With Decorators05:47
  18. 18. Debugging Code With Decorators08:50
  19. 19. Slowing Down Code With Decorators03:31
  20. 20. Registering Plugins With Decorators03:38
  21. 21. Decorators 101 Recap and Review01:14
  22. 22. Exercise: Controlling the Eager Turtles08:30

Day 24 - Thursday (Week 5)

1 Lesson 1m

  1. 1. Live Lesson01:30

Day 25 - Friday (Week 5)

2 Lessons 1m

  1. 1. A Breather00:30
  2. 2. Live Instructor Q&A Today00:30

Day 26 - Monday (Week 6)

12 Lessons 53m

  1. 1. Data Types and Data Structures01:39
  2. 2. Differences Between Python's Mutable and Immutable Types (Overview)02:59
  3. 3. Understanding Mutable vs Immutable Types02:45
  4. 4. Learning the Difference Between a Variable Name and the Object05:01
  5. 5. Looking at Immutable Built-in Data Types: Numbers & Booleans05:05
  6. 6. Seeing More Immutable Built-in Data Types: Strings & Tuples06:00
  7. 7. Switching to Mutable Built-in Data Types: Lists04:46
  8. 8. Exploring Mutable Built-in Data Types: Dictionaries & Sets05:09
  9. 9. Avoiding Mutability-Related Gotchas: Aliasing & Mutating Arguments06:53
  10. 10. Avoiding Further Gotchas: Mutable Default Arguments & Copying Objects08:42
  11. 11. Differences Between Python's Mutable and Immutable Types (Summary)01:48
  12. 12. Exercise: Mutable and Immutable Types03:00

Day 27 - Tuesday (Week 6)

28 Lessons 1h 50m

  1. 1. Tuples, Sets, and Frozen Sets00:52
  2. 2. Lists and Tuples in Python: Overview03:03
  3. 3. Lists: Ordered & Arbitrary04:55
  4. 4. Indexing and Slicing06:56
  5. 5. Operators and Built-In Functions05:21
  6. 6. Nesting04:35
  7. 7. Lists: Mutable & Dynamic06:58
  8. 8. List Methods10:52
  9. 9. List Methods With Return Values07:21
  10. 10. Defining Tuples04:25
  11. 11. Tuple Assignment, Packing, and Unpacking05:17
  12. 12. Lists and Tuples in Python: Conclusion01:48
  13. 13. Sets in Python (Overview)01:16
  14. 14. What Is a Set?00:58
  15. 15. Immutable vs. Hashable03:14
  16. 16. Defining a Set in Python02:11
  17. 17. Length, Membership, and Iteration03:07
  18. 18. Union, Intersection, and Difference06:49
  19. 19. Disjoint, Subset, and Superset05:37
  20. 20. Add, Remove, Discard, Pop, and Clear02:44
  21. 21. Different Update Methods05:56
  22. 22. Augmented Assignment (Sets)01:32
  23. 23. Frozen Sets02:49
  24. 24. Augmented Assignment (Frozen Sets)01:28
  25. 25. Why Sets?00:55
  26. 26. Set Speed Test05:54
  27. 27. Sets in Python (Summary)03:11
  28. 28. Live Instructor Q&A today00:30

Day 28 - Wednesday (Week 6)

3 Lessons 1h 30m

  1. 1. The collections Module00:41
  2. 2. Python's collections: A Buffet of Specialized Data Types85:30
  3. 3. Exercise: Collecting Your Thoughts About collections04:00

Day 29 - Thursday (Week 6)

1 Lesson 1m

  1. 1. Live Lesson01:30

Day 30 - Friday (Week 6)

10 Lessons 43m

  1. 1. Writing Clean, Pythonic Code With namedtuple (Overview)01:42
  2. 2. Using namedtuple09:47
  3. 3. Providing Optional Factory Arguments05:41
  4. 4. Understanding namedtuple Class Utilities04:05
  5. 5. Writing Cleaner Code08:02
  6. 6. Comparing Data Structures05:17
  7. 7. Extending namedtuple Classes04:03
  8. 8. Writing Clean, Pythonic Code With namedtuple (Summary)02:10
  9. 9. Choosing a Data Structure02:36
  10. 10. Live Instructor Q&A today00:30

Days 31 - 40 (Weeks 7 and 8)

3 Lessons 7m

  1. 1. Welcome to the Final Two Weeks: Recipe Management Application Project06:00
  2. 2. Setting Out the Project Requirements01:00
  3. 3. Forum Discussions
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About Stephen Gruppetta

Stephen obtained a PhD in physics and worked as a physicist in academia for over a decade before becoming a Python educator. He's constantly looking for simple ways to explain complex things in Python.

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