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death and gravity

@_andgravity

I write about #Python on the internet. Maintainer of https://nitter.cf/t.co/oQDzVUsuTe, a Python feed reader library.

death.andgravity.com/
Joined January 2023
  • Tweets203
  • Following43
  • Followers87
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death and gravity retweeted
Python Hub (@PythonHub) profile picture
Python Hub@PythonHubJun 25
Ordered key sharding in DynamoDB So, you want to keep a sorted index in DynamoDB, but for whatever reason – usually throughput-related – it won't fit on a single partition. What do you do? Today, we look at the available solutions, do the math, and find out which is best. death.andgravity.com/albumti…

Ordered key sharding in DynamoDB

... in which we find out how to make a sorted index when the data doesn't fit on a single DynamoDB partition.

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The last part of my DynamoDB crash course is out, the one on how to deal with it being as low level as it is death.andgravity.com/dynamod…

DynamoDB crash course: part 3 – design patterns

This is the last part of a series covering core DynamoDB philosophy, concepts and patterns; the goal is to help you understand idiomatic usage and trade-offs in under an hour. Today, we're looking at...

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reader 3.25 is out, now with feed autodetection! (so you don't have to hunt #RSS URLs with view-source: anymore) (early release because of some migration bugs 😅)
screenshot of the reader web app showing the "add feed" page

ALT screenshot of the reader web app showing the "add feed" page

screenshot of the reader web app suggesting autodiscovered feeds for a web page

ALT screenshot of the reader web app suggesting autodiscovered feeds for a web page

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New article up: Learn Python object-oriented programming with Raymond Hettinger (thank you, @raymondh!) death.andgravity.com/hetting…

Learn Python object-oriented programming with Raymond Hettinger

Even if you haven't heard of Raymond Hettinger, you've definitely used his work, bangers such as sorted(), collections, and many others. His talks had a huge impact on my development as a software...

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New article up: DynamoDB crash course: part 2 – data model (what the main abstractions are, what you can do with them, and how they scale) death.andgravity.com/dynamod…
diagram showing DynamoDB core components, including logical and physical ones (collections and partitions)

ALT diagram showing DynamoDB core components, including logical and physical ones (collections and partitions)

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BTW, that diagram was made with pikchr.org, which I can't recommend enough.
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While the AWS documentation is *mostly* comprehensive, it's also all over the place, including some other places that aren't the documentation at all, like the AWS blog (it's ok, it's Amazon).
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This series brings the important stuff in one place, so you can get a mental model of how it all ties together without having to read the entire documentation twice.
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death and gravity retweeted
Python Hub (@PythonHub) profile picture
Python Hub@PythonHubFeb 9
DynamoDB crash course: part 1 – philosophy This is part one of a series covering core DynamoDB concepts and patterns, all the way up to single-table design; the goal is to get you to understand idiomatic usage and trade-offs in under an hour. Today, we're looking at what DynamoDB is and why it is that way. death.andgravity.com/dynamod…

DynamoDB crash course: part 1 – philosophy

This is part one of a series covering core DynamoDB philosophy, concepts and patterns; the goal is to help you understand idiomatic usage and trade-offs in under an hour. Today, we're looking at what...

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death and gravity retweeted
Real Python (@realpython) profile picture
Real Python
@realpython7 Oct 2025
When to Use Classes in Python? #python death.andgravity.com/same-fu…

When to use classes in Python? When you repeat similar sets of functions

Having trouble figuring out when to use classes? In this article, we look at another heuristic for using classes in Python, with examples from real-world code, and some things to keep in mind.

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Ever wanted to run #async code from sync code in #Python? With github.com/lemon24/asyncio-t…, now you can!
comparison between the use of an aiohttp session from async code and similar use from sync code via asyncio-thread-runner

ALT comparison between the use of an aiohttp session from async code and similar use from sync code via asyncio-thread-runner

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death and gravity retweeted
PyCoder’s Weekly (@pycoders) profile picture
PyCoder’s Weekly
@pycoders7 Aug 2025
When to Use Classes in Python? bit.ly/3UastEU

When to use classes in Python? When you repeat similar sets of functions

Having trouble figuring out when to use classes? In this article, we look at another heuristic for using classes in Python, with examples from real-world code, and some things to keep in mind.

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New article up: Inheritance over composition, sometimes death.andgravity.com/over-co…

Inheritance over composition, sometimes

Last time, we built a hybrid concurrent.futures executor using inheritance. Today, we're building it again (twice!) using composition and functions only, to figure out which way is better and why....

death.andgravity.com
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New article up: Process​Thread​Pool​Executor: when I‍/‍O becomes CPU-bound death.andgravity.com/ptpe

Process​Thread​Pool​Executor: when I‍/‍O becomes CPU-bound

...in which we build a hybrid concurrent.futures executor that runs I‍/‍O bound tasks on all available CPUs, thus evading the limitations imposed by the dreaded global interpreter lock on the humble...

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death and gravity retweeted
indygreg (@indygreg) profile picture
indygreg@indygreg21 Aug 2024
Replying to @charliermarsh @alsuren
And you can’t do this if dependency/env resolution isn’t super fast. (Or at least the experience isn’t as nice.) Performance is a feature that unlocks other features.
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death and gravity retweeted
Real Python (@realpython) profile picture
Real Python
@realpython27 Mar 2024
A Priority-Expiry LRU Cache Without Heaps or Trees #python death.andgravity.com/lru-cac…

This is not interview advice: a priority-expiry LRU cache in Python without heaps or trees

Today we're implementing a least recently used cache with priorities and expiry, using only the Python standard library. This is a bIG TEch CoDINg InTerVIEW problem, so we'll work hard to stay away...

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reader 3.12 is out! This release splits the search index into a separate database, and adds an internal change tracking API. death.andgravity.com/reader-…

reader 3.12 released – split search index

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Also, you can filter entries by entry tags since 3.11 (released back in December).
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death and gravity retweeted
pip Trends (@pipTrends) profile picture
pip Trends@pipTrends13 Feb 2024
If you are preparing for interviews or want to know the nitty-gritty of LRU cache you should read this. Long but a very good one. @_andgravity explained stuff amazingly with code & test cases. #python #Programming #WebDevelopment #TechNews #OpenSource death.andgravity.com/lru-cac…

This is not interview advice: a priority-expiry LRU cache in Python without heaps or trees

Today we're implementing a least recently used cache with priorities and expiry, using only the Python standard library. This is a bIG TEch CoDINg InTerVIEW problem, so we'll work hard to stay away...

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death and gravity retweeted
PyCoder’s Weekly (@pycoders) profile picture
PyCoder’s Weekly
@pycoders29 Jan 2024
A Priority-Expiry LRU Cache Without Heaps or Trees bit.ly/491hC5A

This is not interview advice: a priority-expiry LRU cache in Python without heaps or trees

Today we're implementing a least recently used cache with priorities and expiry, using only the Python standard library. This is a bIG TEch CoDINg InTerVIEW problem, so we'll work hard to stay away...

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