Category: software engineering

Classes and Object-Oriented Programming in Python

Unlike some other object-oriented languages, Python doesn't force you to use the object-oriented paradigm exclusively: it also supports procedural programming with modules and functions, such that you can select the best paradigm for each part of your program or such that you can mix and match paradigms as needed. The object-oriented programming (OOP) helps you group state (data) and behaviour (code) together in self-contained scoped namespaces of functionality. OOP is also useful when you want to use some of Python's other object-oriented mechanisms, such as inheritance, overloading, and magic methods. In this post I cover the basics of classes, objects, and object-oriented programming from a Python syntax point of view.

Magic Methods in Python

Python's magic methods are a particular type of Python function whose specific purpose is to overload existing/built-in Python operators and/or methods. Therein, magic methods are an important part of how Python implements the object-oriented programming (OOP) paradigm - as they allow for operator overloading, the customization of class objects, and ultimately provide us with a simple way to make our own custom objects behave like Python built-in types. In this article I'll review what magic methods are and which are the most commonly used (and how).

Structured Query Language - a primer (part 3)

Part 3 - Structured Query Language (SQL) is the language of databases - responsible for the creating, reading, updating, and deleting of data in those databases. Since its first appearance in the mid-70's SQL has defined how the management and handling of structured data. In turn, relational database management systems now underpin storage of the worlds data. Further underlining the importance of SQL followed it's acceptance as a standard of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and later the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). In this article we take a look at the basic syntax for the most important and frequently used SQL operations.

Hero Banner in React, Tailwind CSS, and Glidejs

When we talk about a 'Hero banner' we're usually refering to the landing page of a website - where, at or near the top of the page there may be a large image with some text overlaid. In fact often there will be more than one image, and after a set period of time the image being displayed will change to one of the others. Usually this occurs with some sort of animation (slide-in, fade-in, etc.), again after a fixed period of time, and in a cyclical fashion. Hence, the 'Hero banner', can contain images that relate to the business, individuals, or individual that the website represents with the overlaying text conveying a message that is in someway relevent to it's location, perhaps including buttons that lead the user through to other content. And again this is usually placed at the top of the landing page. In this post I'll walk through how such a 'Hero banner' can be made using React, Tailwindcss, and the JavaScript library Glidejs.

Structured Query Language - a primer (part 2)

Part 2 - Structured Query Language (SQL) is the language of databases - responsible for the creating, reading, updating, and deleting of data in those databases. Since its first appearance in the mid-70's SQL has defined how the management and handling of structured data. In turn, relational database management systems now underpin storage of the worlds data. Further underlining the importance of SQL followed it's acceptance as a standard of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and later the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). In this article we take a look at the basic syntax for the most important and frequently used SQL operations.

Structured Query Language - a primer (part 1)

Part 1 - Structured Query Language (SQL) is the language of databases - responsible for the creating, reading, updating, and deleting of data in those databases. Since its first appearance in the mid-70's SQL has defined how the management and handling of structured data. In turn, relational database management systems now underpin storage of the worlds data. Further underlining the importance of SQL followed it's acceptance as a standard of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and later the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). In this article we take a look at the basic syntax for the most important and frequently used SQL operations.