Announcing: Python standard library, video explainer

A month or two ago, I saw an online quiz that caught my eye: How much of the Python standard library do you know?

Now, the “standard library” is the collection of modules and packages that come with Python. It constitutes the “batteries” that “batteries included” refers to in the Python world. And the standard library is big, with about 300 modules, each of which contains functions, classes, and values.  Knowing the standard library, and how to use it, is essential to productive use of Python.

And yet, a large number of the people responding indicated that they knew very little of the standard library.  Which makes sense, given that each of us tends to focus on what’s important to our jobs.

Indeed, I’ve been using Python for a long time.  And I had to admit that there are large parts of the standard library with which I’m totally unfamiliar.  I’m sure that there are gems (no Ruby pun intended) in there that I could make use of in my work, if I only knew about them.

I’ve thus decided to try an experiment, namely to walk through the entire standard library (or as much as I can physically, humanly do) in an open-ended YouTube video series.  I’ve already uploaded a number of the videos, and I will be uploading a few new ones every week.  I’m starting with the builtin types, walking through each of their methods — but I’ll then proceed to the other and lesser-known modules.

This is all new content, certainly overlapping my previous writing and courses to some degree, but made new for this series.  It’s less formal than my courses, without any exercises or background theory connecting it all together.  And yet, I’ve already learned about a number of methods and techniques — and I assume that the same will be true for you.

This video explainer is on YouTube, so you can watch it easily by subscribing to my channel there, at https://www.youtube.com/reuvenlerner.  This is a long-term project, but one that I hope will be helpful and of use to you and to the entire Python community!  Subscribe to my channel, and you’ll get updated whenever I add new videos.