Python Best Practices Every Coder Should Know 🏆

Make Your Code Clean, Secure, and Maintainable

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It’s easy to write messy code when you’re in a rush, but good habits can save you hours of debugging later. Here are some essential best practices every Python developer should follow!

Use ExitStack() to Manage Multiple Contexts

Nested with statements can get messy. Keep it clean with ExitStack().

🚫 Bad:

def process_files(file1, file2, file3):
    with open(file1, 'r') as f1:
        with open(file2, 'r') as f2:
            with open(file3, 'r') as f3:
                pass

✅ Good:

from contextlib import ExitStack

def process_files(file1, file2, file3):
    with ExitStack() as stack:
        f1 = stack.enter_context(open(file1, 'r'))
        f2 = stack.enter_context(open(file2, 'r'))
        f3 = stack.enter_context(open(file3, 'r'))
        pass

Keep Naming Conventions Consistent

🚫 Bad:

def myFunction(num):
    MyVar = num / 3.5
    return MyVar

✅ Good:

def my_function(num):
    my_var = num / 3.5
    return my_va

Avoid Hardcoding Sensitive Information

Never store API keys or passwords directly in your code!

🚫 Bad:

password = "iLOVEcats356@33"

✅ Good:

import os
password = os.getenv("MY_SECRET_PASSWORD")

Use get() to Avoid Key Errors in Dictionaries

🚫 Bad:

data = {"name": "Alice", "age": 30}
city = data["city"] if "city" in data else "Unknown"

✅ Good:

city = data.get("city", "Unknown")

Take Advantage of match for Clean Conditional Statements

🚫 Bad:

def describe_type(obj):
    if isinstance(obj, str):
        return "It's a string"
    elif isinstance(obj, int):
        return "It's an integer"
    elif isinstance(obj, list):
        return "It's a list"
    else:
        return "It's something else"

✅ Good:

def describe_type(obj):
    match obj:
        case str():
            return "It's a string"
        case int():
            return "It's an integer"
        case list():
            return "It's a list"
        case _:
            return "It's something else"

Final Thoughts

The difference between good and great Python code is all in the details! Adopting these habits will make your code more readable, maintainable, and secure. Give them a try! 🏆