Over the years, I received thousands of emails from Finxters who are interested in a list of my “best” posts that concern the business and productivity side of computer scientists and programmers.
The following list is a curated list of the productivity related articles on the Finxter blog, ordered by recency: 👇
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The Best Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Freelancing Platforms
Can you earn money for cryptocurrencies? With the increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cardano, the question naturally arise: can you sell your services for cryptocurrencies BTC, ETH, or ADA instead of USD, EUR, or CHF? The answer is: YES. And it gets better: the main idea of the blockchain is to … Read more
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[FANG KILLER ICP] Will the Internet Computer Disrupt Big Tech?
What is the Internet Computer? The Internet Computer is blockchain technology and computing infrastructure initiated by the non-profit organization DFinity. Like the public Internet, the Internet Computer is a distributed computing platform consisting of thousands of connected and decentralized servers that host backend software. This idea mitigates the increasing monopolization of Internet services and enables … Read more
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101+ Free Python Books
Spending money on books is one of the best investments you can possibly make. But why should you? This article compiles a list of 101++ FREE Python books to destroy any excuse of not learning Python. Everyone can afford to read free books! Download Your Free PDF with all the links: How To Use This … Read more
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Writing Clean Code — Being a Professional [Cheat Sheet + Video]
Download the cheat sheet here (direct PDF download): Have you ever asked yourself, “What does it mean to be a professional?” This article is about being a professional software developer. It is based on the book, Clean Code by Robert C. Martin. All quotations are from this book. While reading this article, you will learn … Read more
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A Bird’s-Eye Perspective on Artificial Intelligence–Written by an AI
This article is contributed by our friendly AI from InferKit that uses a deep neural network to generate text automatically. I (human) guided the AI by proposing different subheadings that may be of interest to the reader. Surprisingly, there are many unique perspectives in the article—and some totally wrong “facts”. So, enjoy this fascinating demonstration … Read more
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The Ultimate Guide to Start Learning Python
Are you looking for the best way to become a professional Python developer? After reading this article, you will have a crystal clear plan for learning Python. You don’t need any programming skills for this plan to work. In short, you invest 70% of your learning time in practical projects and 30% in mastering the … Read more
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Best VS Code Cheat Sheet
Hey Finxters!! It is time for another cheat sheet!! Cheat sheets are super helpful if you are looking to become a Python freelancer. Some of the basics need to be condensed and learned quickly to get you on your way. You will also need to know the IDE you are working with and their shortcuts. … Read more
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Top 10 PyCharm Cheat Sheets
Hey Finxters! We all need cheat sheets for Python and all its intricacies. Python has many libraries and there are so many IDE applications you can use with it! One of these IDEs is called Pycharm! I want to introduce you to some of Pycharms shortcuts! Let’s get started right away! Full PyCharm Tutorial Finxter … Read more
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Less Is More in Design
This chapter draft from my upcoming book “From One to Zero: Minimalism in Programming” will appear in revised form in 2021 with NoStarch (SanFrancisco). Stay tuned for updates on the book launch: In this chapter, you’ll enter a vital area in computer science that greatly benefits from a minimalistic mindset: design and user experience (UX). … Read more
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My Business and Coding Book Recommendations
“Readers are leaders.” Many Finxters seek mentorship—and write in asking me for book recommendations. I read about one business or programming book per week and this simple habit has completely transformed my life. In this article, I’ve compiled my top list of business and programming books—ordered by how great I think the book is. All … Read more
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[Collection] 10 Scikit-Learn Cheat Sheets Every Machine Learning Engineer Must Have
Do you need a little help learning Scikit-Learn in Python? Or maybe you just finding it hard to remember all the different commands to perform different operations? All of those formulas can be confusing and hard to remember. Have no fear!! I have put together 10 of the Best Python Scikit-Learn cheat sheets for you … Read more
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7 Ways to Make Money as a Coder – Without a Job
ChrisWhile working as a researcher in distributed systems, Dr. Christian Mayer found his love for teaching computer science students. To help students reach higher levels of Python success, he founded the programming education website Finxter.com that has taught exponential skills to millions of coders worldwide. He’s the author of the best-selling programming books Python One-Liners … Read more
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14 Unix Principles to Write Better Code
“This is the Unix philosophy: Write programs that do one thing and do it well. Write programs to work together. Write programs to handle text streams, because that is a universal interface. […] ” – McIlroy This book chapter draft is original material drawn from my upcoming book “From One to Zero” to appear in … Read more
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How To Execute a File Within the Python Interpreter
No matter the stage of your Python development career, you probably already appreciate the importance of running and testing your code. This is the only way to ensure it works as planned and does what you need it to do. But how do you actually run scripts and code? This article will give you a … Read more
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Python eval()
This tutorial shows you how to use Python’s built-in eval() function. Why Using It? The main application of eval() is to take user input at runtime and run it as a Python expression. This way, you can create a calculator or allow users to perform custom computations on a computing cluster. However, this use also … Read more
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A Chat Conversation with OpenAI About Teaching, Programming, and Life
The following is a conversation with an AI assistant. The assistant is helpful, creative, clever, and very friendly. Human: Hello, who are you? AI: I am an AI created by OpenAI. How can I help you today? Human: My name is Chris, and I’d love to teach people to code. AI: I would recommend the … Read more
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Captive User Interfaces — Why You Should Avoid Them
This tutorial shows you the meaning of captive user interfaces and why they’re discouraged under the Unix philosophy. I’ve written this as a first chapter draft for my upcoming book “From One to Zero” to appear in 2020 with San Francisco-based publisher NoStarch. What’s a Captive User Interface (CUI)? A captive user interface is a … Read more
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Python exec() — A Hacker’s Guide to A Dangerous Function
Python’s exec() function executes the Python code you pass as a string or executable object argument. This is called dynamic execution because, in contrast to normal static Python code, you can generate code and execute it at runtime. This way, you can run programmatically-created Python code. Have you ever wondered about the limits of a … Read more
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Unix Heros: Celebrating 8 Pioneers to Change Computing Forever
The family of Unix operating systems emerged in the late 1970s when Bell Systems made the source code of its technology open to the public. In the subsequent decades, universities, individuals, and corporations developed a multitude of extensions and new versions. Today, Unix is a trademarked standard that ensures that certain quality standards are met … Read more
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How to Use Flow to Be More Productive as a Coder
“Flow is the source code of ultimate human performance” – Steven Kotler This is a chapter draft of my upcoming book “From One to Zero” with publisher NoStarchPress about minimalism in programming. The book will appear in 2021—stay tuned on my email list with lots of free Python content: In this chapter, you’ll learn about … Read more
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How to Run Python Without Installation?
Python is ranked as the second most popular programming language in the Tiobe index according to Zdnet.com. Python has gained popularity among the growing tech areas of machine learning and data science—and it has a simple, elegant syntax that is easy to learn. If you want to start learning Python—or you sit on another computer … Read more
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Premature Optimization is the Root of All Evil
This chapter draft is part of my upcoming book “The Art of Clean Code” (NoStarch 2022). You’ll learn about the concept of premature optimization and why it hurts your programming productivity. Premature optimization is one of the main problems of poorly written code. But what is it anyway? Definition Premature Optimization Definition: Premature optimization is … Read more
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Show Don’t Tell: Commenting Python Best Practices
This tutorial taken from my upcoming programming book “From One to Zero” (NoStarch, 2021) will show you how to write great comments. While most online tutorials focus on a bullet list of commenting tips, we dive deeper into the meat exploring the underlying reasons for the commonly recommended commenting principles. So, let’s get started! Code … Read more
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Freelance Developer – How to Code From Home and Earn Six Figures [Industry Report]
What keeps you going day after day? Your motivation is the most important building block of your success. In the following, I’d like to give you some fact-based motivation why creating your coding business online can easily be the most rewarding decision in your life. Yet, motivation is not everything. If you want to make … Read more
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Python’s Breakpoint() Function
Writing code in Python is not always an easy task. Often writing “perfect” code without any errors is nothing more than a coder’s daydream. Allow me to introduce you to a little function programmers use to debug their code called the breakpoint() function. Now there are several tools a programmer can use in their coding … Read more
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Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in Software Development — Why Stealth Sucks
This chapter from my upcoming book “The Art of Clean Code” (NoStarch 2022) teaches you a well-known but still undervalued idea. The idea is to build a minimum viable product (in short: MVP) to test and validate your hypotheses quickly without losing a lot of time in implementation. In particular, you’ll learn how to apply … Read more
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Python Function Call Inside List Comprehension
Question: Is it possible to call a function inside a list comprehension statement? Background: List comprehension is a compact way of creating lists. The simple formula is [expression + context]. Expression: What to do with each list element? Context: What elements to select? The context consists of an arbitrary number of for and if statements. … Read more
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How to Generate Text Automatically With Python? A Guide to the DeepAI API
Do you want to enrich your Python script with powerful text-generation capabilities? You’re in the right place! What does it do? I just discovered DeepAI’s API that automatically generates a body of text, given a sentence fragment or topic keyword. How can it be used? You can use this as a basis to generate text … Read more
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Pandas NaN — Working With Missing Data
Pandas is Excel on steroids—the powerful Python library allows you to analyze structured and tabular data with surprising efficiency and ease. Pandas is one of the reasons why master coders reach 100x the efficiency of average coders. In today’s article, you’ll learn how to work with missing data—in particular, how to handle NaN values in … Read more
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How to Be a Freelance Developer in Germany
Being a Python freelancer is a new way of living in the 21st century. It’s a path of personal growth, learning new skills, and earning money in the process. But in today’s digital economy, becoming a Python freelancer is – above everything else – a lifestyle choice. It can give you fulfillment, flexibility, and endless … Read more
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Leaving the Rat Race with Python [PDF Free Download]
Book: Leaving the Rat Race with Python Subtitle: How to Nurture, Grow, and Harness Your Work-From-Home Coding Business Online, and Live the Good Life Authors: Dr. Christian Mayer & Lukas Rieger Direct download link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11cgTvjU8uVYQH0JxEwY-NcnFlJ1Xzw1r/view?usp=sharing File Format: PDF (100 pages) Description: This practical how-to book will help you nurture, grow, and harness your new online … Read more
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Freelance Software Development in the United States (US)
The next disruption is about to happen in the freelancing space. Freelancing platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr grow double-digit per year. But what if you’re living in the US? Is freelancing still a great opportunity for you—given the worldwide competition? How much can you earn in the US? In this article, we’re going to … Read more
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How Many Freelance Developers Are There in the US?
How many freelance developers are there in the US? There’s no official and precise answer. However, based on three credible sources—Upwork, Freelancer Union, McKinsey—I calculated an estimation stemming from each source. Here are our estimations for the number of freelancers based on three independent data sources: Upwork Data: 12,500,000 freelance developers in the IT sector. … Read more
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Freelance Developers, Specialize! 44 Profitable Niches for Coders
As a freelance developer, many routes lead to success. But this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t decide which route to take and stick to it! Quite contrarily, the worst is to be a jack-of-all-trades—a freelance developer who doesn’t have the guts to focus on one specialized skill set. Specialization is critical for your success as … Read more
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Freelance Developer LLC — Is It Smart For You?
Should you create an LLC as a freelance developer? In this article, you’ll learn about which clothes your freelancing business should wear. Make no mistake—choosing the right business entity matters. And informing about this question by reading articles like this one may be one of the most important decisions in your professional life. Short answer: … Read more
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How to Build Your Brand as a Freelance Developer [Ultimate Guide]
This guide shows you the importance of building your personal brand as a freelance developer. Why Freelance Developing? Freelancing is the new mega trend in the 21st century. Freelancing platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr grow double-digits year after year. The COVID-19 crisis has revived the interest in remote work and, statistically, most people dream … Read more
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Top 3 Freelance Developer Contract Templates (Free)
This article is for you if you are either of the following: You’re a freelance developer or freelancing agency and you want to offer your services to a client. You’re a client and you want to take the service from a freelance developer. If you belong to either group, you’re in the right place! 🙂 … Read more
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Keep It Simple, Stupid! Minimalism in Programming: How Complexity Harms Your Productivity
This article is based on a book chapter from my upcoming book “From One to Zero: A Minimalistic Approach to Programming”. My programming students often write in with their struggles and failures. Many students ultimately overcome their struggles—but a large percentage of them give up their programming ambitions after realizing how hard creating software can … Read more
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3 Beautiful Website Templates for Freelance Developers to Impress Your Clients [Free WordPress Themes]
The landscape of work is changing—independent work becomes more and more important on a relative and absolute basis. Upwork and Fiverr, the biggest freelancing platforms, are growing double-digit year after year. Do you want to participate in this disruptive trend and become a successful (part-time) freelance developer? This article shows you the best website templates … Read more
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Freelance Developer Resume Template — Free Download GDocs + PDF [No Signup]
Click on the image to create your own copy on Google Docs—opens the freelance developer resume template in a new tab in your browser: Get this Freelance Developer Resume Template in different formats: Google Docs for editing: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13PmALgq4LWu29zf67fzuqU2bVa9tSEd4gXgE-afqmXg/copy PDF for viewing: https://blog.finxter.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Resume-Python-Freelance-Developer.pdf Resume PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY Are you looking for a value-oriented, experienced Python freelance developer … Read more
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Freelance Developer Job Description
The pervasive freelancing trend is not coming to a halt soon. Millions of coders—beginners and experts alike—flock to this new opportunity to become self-employed as their own bosses while working on meaningful projects for clients. But what is a freelance developer anyways? This article will give you a clear job description! Freelance Developer Job Description … Read more
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Freelance Developer Reddit — 30 Posts to Binge-Read
Writing this article, I must confess, was very challenging. Not because the content is difficult to write about—be assured, it isn’t—but because it involves scrolling through Reddit to find the best posts, comments, and subreddits regarding freelance developing. Have you ever found yourself endlessly scrolling through Reddit? Well—somehow I accomplished finishing this article despite the … Read more
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9 Freelance Developer Books Every Coder Must Read
Freelancing is the new mega trend of our time. Large freelancing platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr grow double-digit—they’re out to disrupt the organization of the world’s talents. And it seems like they’re succeeding! Do you want to participate in this trend rather than only holding on to your cozy developer job as long as … Read more
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Top 11 Freelance Developer Courses for Maximum Success
Freelancing is the new mega trend. And there’s a good reason: more and more companies see the cost benefits of hiring outside expertise by the hour. Much like cloud computing revolutionized the server market, freelancing disrupts the talent market with a pay-as-you go model for businesses. The big benefits for freelance developers are convincing as … Read more
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10 Freelance Developer Guides Every Coder Must Read
There’s a new guy in town. He’s called freelancing and he’s out for no good. Freelancing platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr are out to disrupt the organization of the world’s talents. Both platforms grow double-digits year-over-year. The proportion of freelancers in the total population is on the rise. Soon, we may find ourselves in … Read more
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Top 8 Freelance Developer Udemy Courses [No-BS Comparison]
Freelancing is the new mega trend. And there’s a good reason: more and more companies see the cost benefits of hiring outside expertise by the hour. Much like cloud computing revolutionized the server market, freelancing disrupts the talent market with a pay-as-you go model for businesses. The big benefits for freelance developers are convincing as … Read more
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Freelance Developer Hourly Rate By Regions and Professions
What’s the hourly rate of a freelance developer? If you’re like me, you want to peek into the potential of a given profession before you commit years of your life to any profession like freelance developing. The average freelance developer worldwide earns $56 per hour with conservative estimates ranging as low as $31 and aggressive … Read more
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[Formula] How Much to Charge for a Project? For Freelance Developers & Clients
Problem: How to estimate the price of a given code project as a freelancer and as a client? Estimating the price of a freelance software project is a common problem for both freelance developers and clients. On freelancing platforms such as Upwork, clients must associate a realistic price to their freelance project. On freelancing platforms … Read more
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Freelance Developer Net Worth
What is the net worth of a freelance developer? In this article, you’ll learn the expected net worth of a freelance developer as a rough estimate. Definition net worth: Net worth is the value the assets a person or corporation owns, minus the liabilities they owe. It is an important metric to gauge a company’s … Read more
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Freelance Developer Skills
This article is an excerpt of my detailed tutorial “The Complete Guide to Freelance Developing” on this FINXTER blog. We’ll answer the following question: What skills do you need to succeed as a freelance developer? Teaching many freelancing students, I have come to learn that most don’t believe they have all the skills they need … Read more
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Python Import Error (ModuleNotFoundError)
Python’s ImportError (ModuleNotFoundError) indicates that you tried to import a module that Python doesn’t find. It can usually be eliminated by adding a file named __init__.py to the directory and then adding this directory to $PYTHONPATH. If this file (__init__.py) is in the folder, change the position of the import in the file that is … Read more
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Python One-Line Password Generator
Can you believe it? People use unknown and potentially insecure websites to generate their random passwords! This works as follows: A website generates a “random” password for them and they copy&paste it and assume this is a safe password because of the randomness of the characters. What a security flaw! Why? Because the website could … Read more
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Python Comments — 2-Minute Guide with Exercise
Wouldn’t reading code be much easier if the author constantly shared their thoughts with you? Commenting is good practice in Python because it helps others (and your future self) understanding your code much better. Writing commented code makes you more productive in the long term! There are two types of comments: one-line comments and multi-line … Read more
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Python One Line Class
Do you hate those lengthy class definitions with __init__ and too many whitespaces and newlines? Python One-Liners to the rescue! Luckily, you can create classes in a single line—and it can even be Pythonic to do so! Sounds too good to be true? Let’s dive right into it! Problem: How to create a Python class … Read more
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Hello World! A Python One-Liner to Get Started with Python Quickly
The “hello world program” is used in programming languages to set up a minimal programming environment and execute the first trivial program in it. It helps you get your environment going and take your first steps towards a more complicated program. This short tutorial will show you the fastest possible way to write your first … Read more
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How to Thrive on Fiverr as a Freelance Developer?
ChrisWhile working as a researcher in distributed systems, Dr. Christian Mayer found his love for teaching computer science students. To help students reach higher levels of Python success, he founded the programming education website Finxter.com that has taught exponential skills to millions of coders worldwide. He’s the author of the best-selling programming books Python One-Liners … Read more
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6 Easy Steps to Get Started with Python
When Guido van Rossum released the first viable Python version 0.9.0 in 1991, he couldn’t have expected (by a long shot) that he was on the verge of creating the most influential programming language in the world. Python has a bright future: every new Python version adds new features to the programming language. In this … Read more
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[7 Steps] How to Start Your Freelancing Business on the Side?
Do you dream of creating your own coding business online as a web developer, Python freelancer, or programmer? Creating your coding business on the side is one of the best ways to test the waters and build crucial business skills before you fully commit to your new freelancing venture. Here are the eight steps to … Read more
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Python One Line to Multiple Lines
To break one line into multiple lines in Python, use an opening parenthesis in the line you want to break. Now, Python expects the closing parenthesis in one of the next lines and the expression is evaluated across line boundaries. As an alternative, you can also use the backslash \ just in front of the … Read more
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How to Become a Python Freelancer—and Earn $1,000 on the Side? [A Step-by-Step Tutorial]
Do you want to earn money as a Python freelancer? But you just start out learning Python? This article leads you step-by-step through the adventure of becoming a Python freelancer. Learn about the exact steps you need to do to become a Python freelancer – starting out as a Python newbie. Without losing any time, let’s dive into the 7 steps of becoming a Python freelancer.
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The Unstoppable Force of Deflation vs Central Banks
ChrisWhile working as a researcher in distributed systems, Dr. Christian Mayer found his love for teaching computer science students. To help students reach higher levels of Python success, he founded the programming education website Finxter.com that has taught exponential skills to millions of coders worldwide. He’s the author of the best-selling programming books Python One-Liners … Read more
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The 80/20 Principle in Programming
In this article, you’ll learn about the profound impact of the 80/20 principle on your life as a programmer. It’s based on a first draft of a chapter from my upcoming book “From 1 to 0: A Minimalistic Approach to Programming”. The 80/20 principle has many names but the second most famous is the Pareto … Read more
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How to Allocate Your Time as a Freelance Developer? The 40/30/30 Rule for Maximal Productivity
Here’s the time allocation for freelance developers: 20% Become a Business Genius: Read business books and complete business courses. 20% Master Your Niche: Read programming books and specialize. 30% Increase Demand for Your Services: Apply for gigs and generate leads into your business. Learn more here. 30% Do Work For Clients: Always overdeliver to feed … Read more
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[Collection] 11 Python Cheat Sheets Every Python Coder Must Own
Ultra short summary: You want the most dense cheat sheet in Python? Check out this cheat sheet! You want the most comprehensive cheat sheet course? Check out this cheat sheet course!
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Lost Your Sight? How to Code as a Blind or Visually-Impaired Python Developer
I’m a developer who is blind. I’ve been blind since very shortly after birth. I’ve never gone through losing my sight. I wanted to see if my perspective lined up with that of others who are blind, but have lost their sight later on in life. Here is what I found out: I reached out … Read more
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5 Freelance Developer Tricks to Build a Sustainable Business
Do you want to thrive as a self-employed Python freelancer controlling your own time, income, and work schedule? Check out our Python freelancer resources: Finxter Python Freelancer Course:https://blog.finxter.com/become-python-freelancer-course/ Finxter Python Freelancer Webinar:https://blog.finxter.com/webinar-freelancer/ Book: Leaving the Rat Race with Python (Pre-Release):https://blog.finxter.com/book-leaving-the-rat-race-with-python/ ChrisWhile working as a researcher in distributed systems, Dr. Christian Mayer found his love for … Read more
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7 Sources of Passive Income for Coders
These are the types of passive income: Affiliate earnings Advertising earnings eBooks Online courses SaaS Index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) Real estate ChrisWhile working as a researcher in distributed systems, Dr. Christian Mayer found his love for teaching computer science students. To help students reach higher levels of Python success, he founded the programming … Read more
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3 Passive Income Ideas on Upwork or Fiverr
The following three ideas can lead to passive income using Upwork or Fiverr: Hire experts in their niches on Upwork or Fiverr to create online courses and sell them on Udemy Hire experts in their niches on Upwork or Fiverr to create ebooks and sell them on Amazon Hire freelance developers on Upwork or Fiverr … Read more
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What’s the Hourly Rate of a Python Freelancer?
$56/hour How much can you expect to earn as a Python freelancer? The average Python developer worldwide earns $56 per hour (fluctuations between $51 and $61). This statistic is based on five credible online sources including the US government. In the US, the average Python developer earns $60 per hour or more. Based on a conservative … Read more
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Python Freelancing: My First Fiverr Gig and How I Solved It
Basic Webscraping Script in Python | Requests | BeautifulSoup | ArgParse Sold Gig ($35) This is the gig description I offered on my profile to get my first gig: An email marketing company hired me to write a Python script that satisfies the following requirements. Requirements What is the input? (file, file type, email, text,…) … Read more
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[Summary] Independent Work: Choice, Necessity, and the Gig Economy
McKinsey Authors: James Manyika | San FranciscoSusan Lund | WashingtonJacques Bughin | BrusselsKelsey Robinson | San FranciscoJan Mischke | ZurichDeepa Mahajan | San Francisco Anyone who has ever felt trapped in a cubicle, annoyed by a micromanaging boss, or fed up with office politics has probably dreamed of leaving it all behind and going it … Read more
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This 5-Step Free Python Learning Path Will Unlock Your Coding Superpower [Absolute Beginners]
In this article, I’ll show you five free resources you can study to reach an intermediate Python level being an absolute beginner. Studying all the resources will take 20-40 hours. But after you’ve completed these steps, you’ll have created yourself a new high-income skill Python development. So, let’s get started! Step 1: Complete Python Crash … Read more
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The 6 Best Python Easter Eggs
This article compiles a list of little surprises in the Python programming language. Check out the following Instagram post to see them in an interactive mode (swipe right). View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Python Blog (@finxter.com_) on Nov 11, 2019 at 10:35pm PST Here are the best easter eggs: The … Read more
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Python Career Paths: How to Learn Python to Get a Job
Let’s be clear: you learn Python to get a job. Sure, coding is a fun, fulfilling hobby. But at the end of the day, we all dream of getting that developer job and finally putting our hard-earned skills to good use earning a comfortable six–figure salary: And no wonder because being a professional Pythonista has … Read more
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Python Freelancing | How to Exploit This Disruptive Mega Trend (as a Coder)
Short summary of the main points in the video: Freelancing is a mega-trend that will disrupt the organization of the world’s labor in the next 10-20 years. Freelancing platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr grow at 20% per year. You can participate in this trend by focusing on one tiny niche—and become world-class at it. … Read more
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Python Functions and Tricks Cheat Sheet
Python cheat sheets are the 80/20 principle applied to coding: learn 80% of the language features in 20% of the time.Download and pin this cheat sheet to your wall until you feel confident using all these tricks. Download PDF for Printing Try It Yourself: Exercise: Modify each function and play with the output! Here’s the … Read more
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[Collection] 10 Best NumPy Cheat Sheets Every Python Coder Must Own
Little time to learn NumPy? This article shows you the ten most amazing NumPy cheat sheets. Download them, print them, and pin them to your wall — and watch your data science skills grow! ?? All NumPy cheat sheets in this article are 100% free. All links open in a new tab (so feel free … Read more
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What Are the Best Freelancing Sites for Coders?
Freelancing is the new way to organize the world’s talents. The appearance of big freelancing platforms made it possible to exchange talent efficiently—across borders, currencies, and niches. You can watch the following video as you go through the article: Freelance Developer Course Link This article is for you if: You’re a freelance developer and you’re … Read more
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Scrum vs. Waterfall vs. Agile – What’s Right for You?
In this article, we will completely ignore the coding technicalities and syntax for a change. We’ll focus on time and work management, which represents a significant portion of a skillset of well-rounded and successful companies and individuals. Disclaimer: A clear distinction between project and product management might be blurred in some organizations, and could be … Read more
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How to Show Only Unread Messages in Primary Gmail Tab?
This is a small trick I learned the hard way. When working through the massive amounts of emails, I often wondered: how to get only the unread ones in Gmail that are also in the primary tab? Queries like these happen quite frequently when working with Gmail. As it turns out, there’s a simple solution: … Read more
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Python vs Go – Which Language You Should Choose
Both Python and Go are extremely relevant today. Both languages are widely used. However, many people have been switching from Python to the newer and faster language Golang, also known as Go. Go is a much newer language than Python, released by Google in 2009, and it has many advantages over many other programming languages. … Read more
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[Story] Winter is Coming — or What's the Best Python Freelancer Course?
It’s a cold Tuesday morning in December. After a long drive in your warm and cozy car—you enjoyed your favorite podcast—you finally arrive at your office. You prepare a hot cup of coffee for you and Mandy, your colleague and best office friend. While filling in the coffee beans (their rough, chocolate aroma fills the … Read more
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How Not to Waste Time and Money? (And Crush it in Business)
Today, I got the following message from one of my freelancer webinar course members: “I am in the same situation as you were. I am in a PhD program and have a family. I would love to get started with freelance programming. You have to understand what you offer [The Python Freelancer Course] is very … Read more
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How to Boost Your Intelligence? 10 Tips From Science
This book chapter from “Brain Games Python” provides you with tips to help you become a more intelligent human being. Ignore them at your own risk! 1. Sleep More Sleep deprivation reduces your intelligence [Killgore 2008]. Say, you decide to sleep only six instead of eight hours from now on. Congratulations, you’ve gained 8% more … Read more
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How Fake News are Holding You Back in Python
Experts in their field read more books! The rise of “Fake News” shows that the quality of information is a valuable asset of the information society. With poor quality of information comes poor knowledge and expertise. Let’s order the content types based on the quality of information they tend to generate (from low quality to … Read more
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Attention, Python Coder! What Can You Learn from the StackOverflow 2019 Developer Study?
The yearly StackOverflow Developer Study is the largest of its kind. Every year, more than 90,000 developers participate by answering a 20-minute questionnaire. Because of the great insights, the StackOverflow study is a must-read for uprising developers and coding talents. This article gives you a short overview of the key highlights of the survey. Interestingly, you can … Read more
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Why does Python Look Great on Your Resume?
Nothing to add—let’s get started! ? Python is the fastest-growing major programming language. A StackOverflow 2019 developer survey shows that Python is not only faster growing than C++, Java, JavaScript, and any other major programming language, it also comes with a happier community that loves the language most. Python is great for machine learning. Python comes with … Read more
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Don't Compete on Price as a Self-Employed Freelance Developer
Today, there’s a global competition in the coding market. If you create your coding business online, you compete for business with coders all around the world. Become a self-employed freelance coder in the trendiest programming language in the universe! And there are great coders in India, Pakistan, and other countries who have a great advantage … Read more
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Programming Your Intelligence
This is a first draft for an introductory chapter of the fifth book of my “Coffee Break Python” series. If you want to follow the updates of this book, subscribe to my Python email training program where I’ll announce the book as soon as it’s ready. A large body of psychological research divides your general … Read more
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How Long Does It Take To Become A Python Developer
This is a common question on many forums. And the answer is — it only takes a few seconds. It’s all about your self-perception. Writing my first (Python) book was hard. It was hard to produce unique text, day after day, without any immediate feedback from the market. Working on such a long-term project without getting any … Read more
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Don’t Think in Terms of Resumes as a Coder — Do This Instead!
The world of programming is different than other professions because it’s a practical, hands-on profession. Coders who get results and can showcase practical projects that solve real problems will always win in this marketplace. You don’t need a degree. Say, you just solved one Upwork project after another. You have a lot of good testimonials … Read more
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Why You Should Offer Your Services For Free as a New Freelance Developer?
I got this question recently regarding Python freelancing and I immediately thought that’s a brilliant idea. (Seriously.) Why should this be a good idea considering that Python freelancers earn $51 per hour on average? Because you can increase your Python skill level but you don’t have to polish your salesman skills from day one. It’s … Read more
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Can You Get A Job Knowing Only Python And No Other Programming Language?
Of course, you can. However, the question misses the point. It’s not about how many programming languages you know. It’s about how much expertise you have in the areas that matter. If you are good at Python, you’ve already proven that you have expertise in the technical programming area. Now, it’s much more about how … Read more
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A Simple Formula to Reach Any Success
Yesterday, I found this email in my INBOX — sent by Finxter Muhammad, one of my most loyal “Coffee Break Python” email readers: ~~~ I have good news I got a job as a Python programmer in a software house.All credit goes to you – Your daily puzzles made me good in Python….. ~~~ While … Read more
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Focus on One Thing. But What’s the Thing?
This article does not give you the standard advice: do what you love. You should love what you do but you don’t necessarily have to do what you love. Oftentimes, the love comes by being successful in a thing. But to be successful, you have to differentiate yourself in the 21st century. In business, it’s … Read more
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What is a Career in Computer Programming Like?
All programming is not created equal. Having said this, I don’t know a single programmer who regrets his choice of learning to program. With growing automation, programming becomes more and more a skill that is at the heart of many tasks in our society. No matter whether you work in the medicine, logistics, retail, or … Read more
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How Does One Become a Freelance Coder?
Becoming a freelance coder is both easy and difficult. It’s easy because everybody can do it within a day or so. And it’s hard because most people fail miserably because they don’t know the right way of approaching this. Maybe you are interested in coding, or maybe you are already very good at coding. But … Read more
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How Python Freelancing Helped Me Create a Thriving Coding Business on the Side
I’m a full-time online business owner working in the Python education space. But I started my career by working as a doctoral computer science researcher at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. While I was working there, I started my online business by finishing a few Python freelancing jobs. Creating a side-business helped me greatly in … Read more
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What Non-Programming Skills to Learn Online That Will Explode Your Career Options?
Do you work in the software development industry? Big news: programming expertise is an important skill set that will help you accelerate your career. For example, one of the most satisfying and highest-paying jobs are DevOps specialists (read more on my blog article about this excellent job description). But DevOps specialists need to have a high-level of coding expertise—gained … Read more
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How to Invest as a Python Programmer?
Investing is the most natural thing in the universe. Trees invest energy into seeds. Parents invest time, money, and sleepless nights into their children. Companies invest in employees. States invest in public school systems. They invest because they expect growth of their investments. The one who invests more and smarter has a huge structural advantage. … Read more
While working as a researcher in distributed systems, Dr. Christian Mayer found his love for teaching computer science students.
To help students reach higher levels of Python success, he founded the programming education website Finxter.com that has taught exponential skills to millions of coders worldwide. He’s the author of the best-selling programming books Python One-Liners (NoStarch 2020), The Art of Clean Code (NoStarch 2022), and The Book of Dash (NoStarch 2022). Chris also coauthored the Coffee Break Python series of self-published books. He’s a computer science enthusiast, freelancer, and owner of one of the top 10 largest Python blogs worldwide.
His passions are writing, reading, and coding. But his greatest passion is to serve aspiring coders through Finxter and help them to boost their skills. You can join his free email academy here.