Python Development

Use Python 3.12+ with the uv package manager for all Python work.

Principles

Workflow

• Understand before coding - Analyze requirements thoroughly before writing code
• Clarify ambiguity - Ask questions when specifications are unclear or incomplete
• Break down complexity - Decompose complex problems into smaller, focused functions
• State assumptions - When requirements are ambiguous, state assumptions explicitly and proceed

Code Quality

• Google Python Style Guide - Follow it for formatting, naming, and structure
• Type hints everywhere - All function signatures, return types, and complex variables
• Specific exceptions - Catch and raise specific exception types, never bare except:
• Context managers - Use with for files, connections, locks, and any resource cleanup
• No mutable defaults - Never use [] or {} as default arguments

Decision Making

• Readability over cleverness - Clear code beats clever code
• Simple over complex - Choose straightforward solutions; add complexity only when justified
• Stdlib first - Use Python's standard library before adding external dependencies
• Minimal dependencies - Every external package must justify its inclusion

Running Python

Always execute Python scripts with uv run:

uv run script.py           # Run script with inline dependencies
uv run python script.py    # Alternative form

Script Dependencies

For standalone scripts, include inline metadata at the top of the file:

# /// script
# dependencies = [
#   "httpx",
#   "pandas",
# ]
# requires-python = ">=3.12"
# ///

uv run automatically installs these dependencies in an isolated environment.

Project Setup

For multi-file projects, use pyproject.toml:

uv init project-name       # Create new project
uv add package-name        # Add dependency
uv add --dev package       # Add dev dependency
uv sync                    # Install all dependencies
uv run python main.py      # Run within project

Code Standards

Follow Google Python Style Guide:

• Type hints on all functions
• Docstrings for public APIs
• f-strings for formatting
• pathlib for file operations
• Context managers for resources
• Specific exception types (not bare except:)

Common Patterns

CLI Script

# /// script
# dependencies = ["typer"]
# requires-python = ">=3.12"
# ///
import typer

def main(name: str, count: int = 1) -> None:
    """Greet someone COUNT times."""
    for _ in range(count):
        typer.echo(f"Hello, {name}!")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    typer.run(main)

Data Processing

# /// script
# dependencies = ["pandas", "httpx"]
# requires-python = ">=3.12"
# ///
import pandas as pd
import httpx

def fetch_and_process(url: str) -> pd.DataFrame:
    """Fetch JSON data and return as DataFrame."""
    response = httpx.get(url)
    response.raise_for_status()
    return pd.DataFrame(response.json())

Async Operations

# /// script
# dependencies = ["httpx"]
# requires-python = ">=3.12"
# ///
import asyncio
import httpx

async def fetch_all(urls: list[str]) -> list[dict]:
    """Fetch multiple URLs concurrently."""
    async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client:
        tasks = [client.get(url) for url in urls]
        responses = await asyncio.gather(*tasks)
        return [r.json() for r in responses]

if __name__ == "__main__":
    results = asyncio.run(fetch_all(["https://api.example.com/1"]))

Library Preferences

Debugging

When scripts fail:

1. Check dependency spelling and version constraints
2. Run with uv run --verbose for detailed output
3. Verify Python version compatibility
4. Test imports interactively: uv run python -c "import package"