I was a physicist for many years — well, I still am a physicist but I no longer work as one. I studied Physics and Maths in my native Malta and then completed a PhD in Optics and Imaging from Imperial College London.

That’s where I learnt coding, out of necessity, first in MATLAB and then Python. In the early days all that mattered was that the code works. Later I learnt to appreciate the beauty of writing neat, elegant code. Still learning…

After well over a decade as a University academic, I decided it’s time to escape before it’s too late. I moved on and set up codetoday in 2016 to teach coding to kids as well as adults who are looking to learn coding.

The more I learn about coding and Python, the more I realise how much I don’t know…

I’ve also authored a Python coding book for beginners: The Python Coding Book (yes, yet another Python coding book!). It’s been gaining a loyal following for its distinct style: relaxed and friendly and making sure the “why” things are the way they are is well understood. Google also places it quite high up when you ask for a “python book”!

I also write regularly on The Python Coding Stack. These articles take a very different approach to writing about Python. You may like them!

And my experimentation with narrative technical writing goes a bit further. I also write specifically about this topic on Breaking the Rules

Now, I’m now a core team member here at Real Python…

You can find me on X where I post stuff about Python and narrative technical writing. Feel free to find me on LinkedIn, too

Tutorials by Stephen:

• Using the len() Function in Python
• How Do You Choose Python Function Names?
• Python Mappings: A Comprehensive Guide
• Python Sequences: A Comprehensive Guide
• What's Lazy Evaluation in Python?
• Build a Python Turtle Game: Space Invaders Clone
• When Should You Use .__repr__() vs .__str__() in Python?
• Using NumPy reshape() to Change the Shape of an Array
• Image Processing With the Python Pillow Library
• Using Python Optional Arguments When Defining Functions
• Visualizing Data in Python Using plt.scatter()
• np.linspace(): Create Evenly or Non-Evenly Spaced Arrays
• Formatting Floats Inside Python F-Strings (Course)
• Differences Between Python's Mutable and Immutable Types (Course)
• Sorting Dictionaries in Python: Keys, Values, and More (Course)

Tutorials Stephen Contributed to:

• Interacting With Python
• When to Use .__repr__() vs .__str__() in Python (Course)
• Process Images Using the Pillow Library and Python (Course)
• Defining Python Functions With Optional Arguments (Course)
• Python's len() Function (Course)
• Using plt.scatter() to Visualize Data in Python (Course)