10 Python Tricks Every Developer Should Know

Python is celebrated for its readability and simplicity, but beneath its clean syntax lie powerful features that can make your code more elegant, efficient, and Pythonic. Here are ten handy Python tricks every developer should have in their toolkit.

1. Swapping Variables in One Line

a, b = b, a

Python allows you to swap variables without needing a temporary variable.

2. List Comprehensions with Conditionals
Build lists concisely with conditions:

squares = [x**2 for x in range(10) if x % 2 == 0]

3. Unpacking Iterables with the * Operator
You can easily unpack parts of a list:

first, *middle, last = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

4. Using zip to Iterate Over Multiple Iterables

names = ['Alice', 'Bob']
ages = [25, 30]

for name, age in zip(names, ages):
    print(name, age)

5. Merging Dictionaries with ** Operator (Python 3.5+)

d1 = {'a': 1}
d2 = {'b': 2}
merged = {**d1, **d2}

6. Using enumerate to Get Index and Value

for index, value in enumerate(['a', 'b', 'c']):
    print(index, value)

7. Using collections.Counter for Counting

from collections import Counter

counts = Counter('abracadabra')
print(counts)

8. Using set to Remove Duplicates

unique = list(set([1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3]))

9. Ternary Conditional Expressions

status = 'Even' if x % 2 == 0 else 'Odd'

10. Joining Strings Efficiently

words = ['Python', 'is', 'fun']
sentence = ' '.join(words)