DEV Community

Cover image for 5 Essential Python Tips Every Beginner Should Know!
Thameem Azfar Ansari
Thameem Azfar Ansari

Posted on

5 Essential Python Tips Every Beginner Should Know!

Hey Everyone! If you're just getting into Python, here are five super useful tips that'll make your coding journey way smoother.

1️⃣ Clean Code Using List Comprehensions
Instead of writing a loop to perform simple list transformations, use this:

nums = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
squared = [x**2 for x in nums] # [1, 4, 9, 16, 25]
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

2️⃣ Swap Two Variables without a Temp Variable
Python makes the swap easy!

a, b = 5, 10
a, b = b, a # Now a = 10, b = 5

Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

3️⃣ Use enumerate() Instead of range(len(.))
Instead of:

for i in range(len(my_list)):
print(i, my_list[i])
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Do this:

for index, value in enumerate(my_list):
print(index, value)
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

4️⃣ Use zip() to Iterate Over Multiple Lists
Need to loop over two lists at once?

names = ["Alice", "Bob", "Charlie"]
scores = [85, 90, 78]

for name, score in zip(names, scores): # zip unpacks the corresponding elements from names and scores as name and score
print(f"{name} scored {score}")
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

5️⃣ Use get() for Safe Dictionary Access
Prevent Key Errors when you Access a dictionary:

student = {"name": "John", "age": 20}
print(student.get("grade", "N/A")) # Output: "N/A" without an error
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Which of the tips was the most helpful for you? Tell me in comments!

Sentry image

See why 4M developers consider Sentry, “not bad.”

Fixing code doesn’t have to be the worst part of your day. Learn how Sentry can help.

Learn more

Top comments (0)

A Workflow Copilot. Tailored to You.

Pieces.app image

Our desktop app, with its intelligent copilot, streamlines coding by generating snippets, extracting code from screenshots, and accelerating problem-solving.

Read the docs

👋 Kindness is contagious

Please leave a ❤️ or a friendly comment on this post if you found it helpful!

Okay