Meet Thor Whalen: Let’s interact with our data in a less complicated way
Hi my Python buddies, have you heard about PyBay2019!? We are only five days away! Make sure to look over the list of our impressive set of speakers. Come take part of the SF Python community, meet some new friends, meet some old friends, learn some new stuff, and build some new stuff.
Let’s meet Thor Whalen, come learn about py2store and how it will help you interact with your data. Here’s Thor!
What are you going to be speaking about at PyBay2019, and why are you excited to give this talk?
I’ll be speaking about approaches I’ve been using to simplify the way I interact with data, and open source tools (https://github.com/i2mint/py2store/) I’ve been developing to allow others to join the fray.
How did you get into programming and Python?
I initially got into programming when I was 12, with a monochrome Commodore 64 (with tape, not even floppy!), programming in Basic. My sole motivation, inspired by the movie “War Games”, was to develop AI chat bots so I could have friends. (Have I aged myself out of cool by now?)
What’s one of the features about Python you like the best?
Python’s introspection and meta-programming powers, which allows me to mold the language to my thoughts (and less of the opposite), which makes it easier to create a dialect that’s only as complex as the problem I’m solving.
What’s your favorite Python library (core or third-party), and why?
It depends on when you ask me. Right now it’s clearly the collections library. Because of how often I use it, and how axiomatic/taxonomic its approach is (see collections.abc). In fact, in my talk I’ll basically be showing how to produce dict-like interfaces to a multiplicity of storage systems and structures.
What can you be found doing when you’re not writing code?
Telling other people about the code I need them to write. Playing music. Playing “Frozen” with my daughter.
What’s the best advice you’ve received as a Python developer?
Separate concerns, code to interfaces, optimize later.
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