Taming Styles of Python Programming

Abstract

Last couple of years have witnessed an immense growth of Python in multifarious domains, each one necessitating a different programming paradigm varying from object oriented, functional, procedural to imperative. This talk reviews them all and helps you choose one for an efficient design solution !

Talk Description

The soaring popularity of Python and its assorted applications can be attributed to its simplicity and flexibility. In this talk, I will review the modern bloom & dominance of Python and discuss four major coding styles often used: Imperative, Procedural, Functional, and Object-Oriented. I will go over the fundamentals of each programming paradigm and discuss their positives, limitations and use cases especially in Python setting along-with a very simple hands-on example to illustrate how one routine can be coded in a different style. The talk will conclude with some pointers on how to choose a coding style for a given situation to make the code more readable, testable and coherent.

This talk aims to introduce different programming styles of Python and encourage Pythonistas to reflect on the implications of each corresponding to their domain viz. data visualisation, machine learning, functional programming, or embedded systems, web development. By better understanding these styles attendees will be empowered to design efficient solutions.

Outline:

Introduction

• The rise of Python and its many applications: Reason for its bloom & dominance
• Reflecting on the simplicity and flexibility providing comfort and independence

Overview of programming styles with positives & limitations in each

• Imperative Programming: Sequential, Direct change to program state, Data structure manipulation, Harder debugging, Limited abstraction, Complex semantics
• Procedural Programming: Sequential, Iterative, Modularized, Tasks’ function calling, Inefficient hardware usage especially for complex problems
• Functional Programming: Stateless functions, Immutable data, Independent of order of execution, More modularity, Useful for - Recursion, Lambda Functions, Parallel Processing
• Object-oriented Programming: Object manipulation via methods only, Code reusability, Limited support by Python (currently)

One example coded in different programming styles for illustration

• Task definition, say average of a list of numbers
• Code in different styles: Imperative, Procedural, Functional, Object-oriented
• Usage of lambda functions, class creation, method creation, etc.
• Discussing speed, efficiency, reusability, simplicity of each style

Conclusion & Takeaways

• Pointers on how to select a programming paradigm based on the application
• Discussing pros and cons of combining, interleaving multiple styles
• Some personal anecdotes, recommendations for different use cases

About the Talk

• Type: talk
• Expected length: 30min
• Intended audience: All

About the Author

_Red Hat Women in Open Source Academic Award Winner 2017_, Jigyasa Grover is an ardent open source enthusiast, Google Summer of Code 2015 & Google Summer of Code 2016 alumna from FOSSASIA and a budding researcher having worked at San Diego Supercomputer Center, National Research Council of Canada and Institute of Research & Development France. She has also briefly worked on anomaly detection framework in Facebook’s Ads system. A feminist by heart, she was involved as Director of Women Who Code and Lead of Google Women Techmakers for a handful of years to help bridge gender gap in technology. She has delivered keynotes and talks at Open Source 101, Open Source Summit Europe, Red Hat Summit, University of California San Diego Guest Lecture Series, FOSSASIA OpenTech Summit Singapore, Society of Women Engineers Conference, WWC Regional Leadership Summit India, Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing India, IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Summit & Women Techmakers Meet. In her quest to build a powerful bunch of girls and boys alike & believing in “we rise by lifting others” she mentors aspiring developers in the global programs like Google Summer of Code, Google Code- In, ‘Learn IT, Girl !’ & CodeHeat. Previous Keynotes, Talks, CodeLabs etc: [docs.google.com/document/d/1pWmkyoxqbFTKsSlmRgYlQ_8gUCtnRrGcfYuGqUT1vCs/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pWmkyoxqbFTKsSlmRgYlQ_8gUCtnRrGcfYuGqUT1vCs/edit?usp=sharing) YouTube Videos: [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaPucMRPgl5aNJJMO3OkfEA/playlists?view_as=subscriber](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaPucMRPgl5aNJJMO3OkfEA/playlists?view_as=subscriber)