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Code Review Skills for Pythonistas

EuroPython 2018 · Edinburgh, Scotland · 2018

Code Review Python Team Skills Engineering Culture

Code reviews are most effective when they prioritize learning and knowledge-sharing over competition or criticism. This talk covers the full picture: the technical side of writing consistent, reviewable Python code, and the human side of giving and receiving feedback well.

Topics covered:

  • Beyond PEP 8 — how to establish and enforce style guidelines that make code easier to review
  • Common Python gotchas — patterns to watch for during review
  • Automation tools — pep8, pylint, coverage.py, and vulture to catch issues before a human ever sees them
  • Giving feedback with empathy — how to frame comments as questions and suggestions, not commands
  • Receiving feedback well — separating your identity from your code

Three key takeaways: code reviews work best with empathy and a growth mindset; Python’s tooling ecosystem supports the process; and style guides beyond PEP 8 produce more consistent, maintainable code.

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