python-development

created	"2025-12-16T00:00:00.000Z"
modified	"2026-05-09T00:00:00.000Z"
reviewed	"2026-04-25T00:00:00.000Z"
name	python-development
description	Core Python development idioms and language features (3.10+). Use when mentioning Python, type hints, or async. For scripts see uv-run; for project setup see uv-project-management.
user-invocable	false
allowed-tools	Glob, Grep, Read, WebFetch, TodoWrite, WebSearch, BashOutput, KillShell, Edit, Write, NotebookEdit, Bash

Python Development

Core Python language concepts, idioms, and best practices.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when...	Use a focused sibling instead when...
Writing idiomatic Python 3.10+ code (match statements, structural pattern matching, PEP 604 unions)	Running a single script or one-off command — use uv-run
Adding type hints, decorators, or context managers to library code	Initializing a project or adding dependencies — use uv-project-management
Designing async/await flows or refactoring to Pythonic patterns	Writing or running pytest tests — use python-testing

Core Expertise

• Python Language: Modern Python 3.10+ features and idioms
• Best Practices: Pythonic code, design patterns, SOLID principles
• Debugging: Interactive debugging and profiling techniques
• Performance: Optimization strategies and profiling
• Async Programming: async/await patterns and asyncio

Modern Python Features (3.10+)

Type Hints

# Modern syntax (Python 3.10+)
def process_items(
    items: list[str],                    # Not List[str]
    mapping: dict[str, int],             # Not Dict[str, int]
    optional: str | None = None,         # Not Optional[str]
) -> tuple[bool, str]:                   # Not Tuple[bool, str]
    """Process items with modern type hints."""
    return True, "success"

# Type aliases
type UserId = int
type UserDict = dict[str, str | int]

def get_user(user_id: UserId) -> UserDict:
    return {"id": user_id, "name": "Alice"}

Pattern Matching (3.10+)

def handle_command(command: dict) -> str:
    match command:
        case {"action": "create", "item": item}:
            return f"Creating {item}"
        case {"action": "delete", "item": item}:
            return f"Deleting {item}"
        case {"action": "list"}:
            return "Listing items"
        case _:
            return "Unknown command"

Structural Pattern Matching

def process_response(response):
    match response:
        case {"status": 200, "data": data}:
            return process_success(data)
        case {"status": 404}:
            raise NotFoundError()
        case {"status": code} if code >= 500:
            raise ServerError(code)

Python Idioms

Context Managers

# File handling
with open("file.txt") as f:
    content = f.read()

# Custom context manager
from contextlib import contextmanager

@contextmanager
def database_connection():
    conn = create_connection()
    try:
        yield conn
    finally:
        conn.close()

with database_connection() as conn:
    conn.execute("SELECT * FROM users")

List Comprehensions

# List comprehension
squares = [x**2 for x in range(10)]

# Dict comprehension
word_lengths = {word: len(word) for word in ["hello", "world"]}

# Set comprehension
unique_lengths = {len(word) for word in ["hello", "world", "hi"]}

# Generator expression
sum_of_squares = sum(x**2 for x in range(1000000))  # Memory efficient

Iterators and Generators

def fibonacci():
    a, b = 0, 1
    while True:
        yield a
        a, b = b, a + b

# Use generator
fib = fibonacci()
first_ten = [next(fib) for _ in range(10)]

# Generator expression
even_squares = (x**2 for x in range(10) if x % 2 == 0)

Debugging

Interactive Debugging

import pdb

def problematic_function():
    value = calculate()
    pdb.set_trace()  # Debugger breakpoint
    return process(value)

# Debug on error
python -m pdb script.py

# pytest with debugger
uv run pytest --pdb                     # Drop into pdb on failure
uv run pytest --pdb --pdbcls=IPython.terminal.debugger:TerminalPdb

Performance Profiling

# CPU profiling
uv run python -m cProfile -s cumtime script.py | head -20

# Line-by-line profiling (temporary dependency)
uv run --with line-profiler kernprof -l -v script.py

# Memory profiling (temporary dependency)
uv run --with memory-profiler python -m memory_profiler script.py

# Real-time profiling (ephemeral tool)
uvx py-spy top -- python script.py

# Quick profiling with scalene
uv run --with scalene python -m scalene script.py

Built-in Debugging Tools

# Trace execution
import sys

def trace_calls(frame, event, arg):
    if event == 'call':
        print(f"Calling {frame.f_code.co_name}")
    return trace_calls

sys.settrace(trace_calls)

# Memory tracking
import tracemalloc

tracemalloc.start()
# ... code to profile
snapshot = tracemalloc.take_snapshot()
top_stats = snapshot.statistics('lineno')
for stat in top_stats[:10]:
    print(stat)

Async Programming

Basic async/await

import asyncio

async def fetch_data(url: str) -> dict:
    async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client:
        response = await client.get(url)
        return response.json()

async def main():
    result = await fetch_data("https://api.example.com")
    print(result)

asyncio.run(main())

Concurrent Tasks

async def process_multiple():
    # Run concurrently
    results = await asyncio.gather(
        fetch_data("url1"),
        fetch_data("url2"),
        fetch_data("url3"),
    )
    return results

# With timeout
async def with_timeout():
    try:
        result = await asyncio.wait_for(fetch_data("url"), timeout=5.0)
    except asyncio.TimeoutError:
        print("Request timed out")

Design Patterns

Dependency Injection

from typing import Protocol

class Database(Protocol):
    def query(self, sql: str) -> list: ...

def get_users(db: Database) -> list:
    return db.query("SELECT * FROM users")

Factory Pattern

def create_handler(handler_type: str):
    match handler_type:
        case "json":
            return JSONHandler()
        case "xml":
            return XMLHandler()
        case _:
            raise ValueError(f"Unknown handler: {handler_type}")

Decorator Pattern

from functools import wraps
import time

def timer(func):
    @wraps(func)
    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
        start = time.time()
        result = func(*args, **kwargs)
        end = time.time()
        print(f"{func.__name__} took {end - start:.2f}s")
        return result
    return wrapper

@timer
def slow_function():
    time.sleep(1)

Best Practices

SOLID Principles

Single Responsibility:

# Bad: Class does too much
class User:
    def save(self): pass
    def send_email(self): pass
    def generate_report(self): pass

# Good: Separate concerns
class User:
    def save(self): pass

class EmailService:
    def send_email(self, user): pass

class ReportGenerator:
    def generate(self, user): pass

Fail Fast

def process_data(data: dict) -> str:
    # Validate early
    if not data:
        raise ValueError("Data cannot be empty")
    if "required_field" not in data:
        raise KeyError("Missing required field")

    # Process with confidence
    return data["required_field"].upper()

Functional Approach

# Prefer immutable transformations
def process_items(items: list[int]) -> list[int]:
    return [item * 2 for item in items]  # New list

# Over mutations
def process_items_bad(items: list[int]) -> None:
    for i in range(len(items)):
        items[i] *= 2  # Mutates input

Project Structure (src layout)

my-project/
├── pyproject.toml
├── README.md
├── src/
│   └── my_project/
│       ├── __init__.py
│       ├── core.py
│       ├── utils.py
│       └── models.py
└── tests/
    ├── conftest.py
    ├── test_core.py
    └── test_utils.py

See Also

• uv-run - Running scripts, temporary dependencies, PEP 723
• uv-project-management - Project setup and dependency management
• uv-tool-management - Installing CLI tools globally
• python-testing - Testing with pytest
• python-code-quality - Linting and type checking with ruff/ty
• python-packaging - Building and publishing packages
• uv-python-versions - Managing Python interpreters

References

• Python docs: https://docs.python.org/3/
• Type hints: https://docs.python.org/3/library/typing.html
• Async: https://docs.python.org/3/library/asyncio.html
• Detailed guide: See REFERENCE.md