Guido van Rossum: Python and the Future of Programming | Lex Fridman Podcast

[@lexfridman]

Here are the timestamps. Please check out our sponsors to support this podcast. 0:00 - Introduction & sponsor mentions: - GiveDirectly: givedirectly.org/lex to get gift matched up to $1000 - Eight Sleep: www.eightsleep.com/lex to get special savings - Fundrise: fundrise.com/lex - InsideTracker: insidetracker.com/lex to get 20% off - Athletic Greens: athleticgreens.com/lex to get 1 month of fish oil 0:48 - CPython 6:01 - Code readability 10:22 - Indentation 26:58 - Bugs 38:26 - Programming fads 53:37 - Speed of Python 3.11 1:18:31 - Type hinting 1:23:49 - mypy 1:29:05 - TypeScript vs JavaScript 1:45:05 - Best IDE for Python 1:55:05 - Parallelism 2:12:58 - Global Interpreter Lock (GIL) 2:22:36 - Python 4.0 2:34:53 - Machine learning 2:44:35 - Benevolent Dictator for Life (BDFL) 2:56:11 - Advice for beginners 3:02:43 - GitHub Copilot 3:06:10 - Future of Python

[@MichaelRHead]

Straight to the Py4 segment!

[@ladym2061]

💖

[@jedicouncilelonmusk]

Intelligence is measured by patience ... we x with lex

[@ProdByGhost]

can you get Geohotz on your podcast lex

[@vikeshrs7012]

Can you post the link for the bug analytics report that you read out around 30:30

[@iacopocarlini]

I started coding in Python, now coding is my job. I have food on my table and a house also thanks to Guido. I am so thankful.

[@klirmio21]

How long did it take you to get that coding job?

[@isaac80745]

usually coding jobs come by chance with the market right now. ie companies offering new position and you can network to get it. Like I was coding python before but tried getting a job in SWE and now I code python for data science for tabulations.

[@AdamLeis]

Thanks *in part* to Guido. Python certainly makes coding more approachable for newbies. Don't forget to give yourself the credit for giving a damn and doing the work. It's amazing how far we can go with we assert effort and care in our work, no matter the craft. Far too many people are "meh" and slough off instead of pressing towards "better". Well done, @iacopocarlini 👏

[@swaminathan_r1]

Now that you know a toy programming language, learn real programming languages now.

[@Jiyoon02]

Good for you!

[@TheHumanSystem]

The guy who knows how to fish "seems like he would be the most useful in the middle of the ocean"...this is going to be another great podcast! :)

[@rahuldev2533]

The guy knows how to program, he has mind of problem solving and will be useful.

[@sanserof7]

@@rahuldev2533 Every single job requires problem solving skills

[@DryDisco]

I love how humble guido is, sometimes to a fault, especially when you take into account how many people’s livelihoods were driven by this man.

[@tibbydudeza]

He made me love programming all over again - did C and then had to switch to the mind numbing boring straightjacket of the SAP ABAP world for 11 years. Got laid off in 2020 and picked up Python/PyCharm and Pandas to keep busy and learn about ML and it enabled me a year later to re-enter the job market at 55. Thank you Guido and the many others.

[@1ABK]

I remember once he posted on Twitter (I think) that some Recruiter DMed him on LinkedIn saying his profile looked great for a senior python role.. that was amusing to see his sense of humor about it.

[@I_hu85ghjo]

@@tibbydudeza you're a king for not giving up. You've my respect, sir

[@andgatehub]

Just don't bring up functional programming or how poorly supported it is in python.

[@siddhartamorionsuarez9017]

@@andgatehub supported enough for a language that doesn't pretend to be a functional language and is used as a generic purposes language

[@MSIContent]

As a 35 year developer and founder of my own software company in 1988, I changed to 100% Python over 10 years ago. To me, it’s a beautiful language and we have done great things using it! The inherent formatting is key to its beauty and readability. This has had profound impact on changing dev staff and general code maintenance over the years. Thank you Guido for your vision.

[@MSIContent]

@@jenn_madison Of course, but you’d have to be crazy to try from scratch lol. Just hook into any of the current array of AI based chatBots out there using their API and provided sample Python code.

[@motichel]

What does your company do?

[@MSIContent]

@@motichel We have developed our own platform for web and mobile app development. It’s a stack from the OS to the UI which is quite unique and very powerful. We specialise in developing bespoke solutions to existing ERP platforms that can not provide the user experience required.

[@motichel]

@@MSIContent wow that’s really interesting do you offer any internships even unpaid? That’s right up my street and I’d love to get the opportunity to be a part of that

[@MSIContent]

@@motichel We can talk. What’s the best way to contact you directly?

[@MTulak]

I love the way this man thinks. No wonder Python is such a good language

[@austinvancleek]

Jelly and mustard on the same sandwich? No way.

[@The.BlackJackal]

I know nothing about programming but I’ve learned so much from the way both John Carmack and Rossum think, thanks to these podcasts.

[@mateuszdrewniak7152]

Guido seems like a great person! It's a really chill and interesting interview. I love getting to know the legends of computing as real human beings. I'd love you to interview Yukihiro Matsumoto, the creator of the Ruby Programming Language. It could make for a an incredible episode.

[@MehmetKoseDev]

if he can speak english

[@AnoNym-zi5ty]

Good point. It's really hard to listen to guests with a really strong accent. ​@@MehmetKoseDev

[@ai_is_a_great_place]

Lex, as a fisherman in the middle of the sea, I must say I was soo hooked by this man's introduction and he perfectly knew the mission. But it was sidetracked at such a solid point! I still love your videos and this interview but just a note.

[@MrBalloonHanz]

I think this has to be one of the best guests you have had. I would have loved to have this guy as a college professor. Maybe I'd have learned to code. Lmao. But this episode has inspired me to get back to it...some day. Some day I *WILL* learn to code!

[@xemy1010]

Now if you have an idea you want to realise, and access to GPT-4, you absolutely can! I knew almost nothing about coding a few months ago, and now I'm knee-deep in python projects thanks to ChatGPT. It's no longer intimidating when you have someone/something to guide you.

[@thiezn]

Feels so strange to see a dutch person speak on a popular international podcast (yes I'm dutch). I tend to think people are all the same, yet Guido is probably one of the best examples of a Dutch person. His way of thinking and expressing himself is so recognizable. Thanks as always @lex for bringing great people on your podcast, you're a bright light in the vast darkness of meaningless talk and bllsht commonly found on the internet (yes it's almost 2am and I've probably had something to drink but still mean every word)

[@droid16beta97]

He seems super down to earth.

[@rickkwan9376]

I was in Amsterdam a week ago. I was tempted to ask a tour guide if the name “Guido van Rossum” meant anything to him.

[@janstone2365]

I am only 10 minutes in, but does he ever laugh or seem to react to a humorous conment from Lex? (I am not sure how Dutch people's sense of humour is (?))

[@gillsejusbates6938]

@@janstone2365 you didnt like the pleasing the fisherman joke?

[@aronhighgrove4100]

@@janstone2365 Europeans, especially northern european ones, are usually more subtle and calm.

[@mythwaker1961]

Good thing with these interviews Lex makes his interviewies feel really important by asking them to explain what they do and explain it, everyone loves talking about themselves and how clever it is by making someone who knows nothing understand to a certain level on a broader view. Best interviewer in a long long time is Lex, don't leave KZbin my friend this is awesome work

[@shubhamsingh-no8jf]

This man is responsible for providing jobs to undergrad students

[@kingoftennis94]

If there was no python... All the undergrads would just learn js

[@stonepeterson4909]

@@kingoftennis94 gay

[@nyny]

provided job opportunities around the world.. I have met so many great people around the world to work on projects. Indians, Pakistanis, Malaysians, Turkish, Egyptians, and we connect over the love of programming and code. Its my favorite part of this timeline

[@I_recommend_suicide]

Postgraduate students too

[@AarushAgarwal]

@@kingoftennis94 as an undergrad web developer who has used python and c++ extensively as well, I hate js

[@andrews8733]

I write quite a bit of python at work. It flows so smoothly. The lack of static types can be a problem when it's code you didn't write, or you wrote a long time ago. But the whole experience of sitting down and cranking out python for hours is top notch; probably more than any other lang. Everything just feels easier. Working with files, sockets, databases, iterating over maps, comprehensions, etc. It's so incredibly intuitive.

[@moonasha]

I've only programmed in C# and some similar languages, and looking at python code always gives me anxiety lol, especially the fact variables aren't typed in the code. Are you saying it has better base classes/functions?

[@SamSarwat90]

@@moonasha I have done both, and I do have quite a strong opinion about this, so you should read it with care. Opinion: Python sucks. On almost every level. The only thing I find good about it is the amount of libraries available for it. But that is nothing about the language per se. Slow, GIL, dynamicly typed, forces indentation, ...... thanks but no thanks. C# on the other hand is, almost, perfection. Obs! I forgot: interpreted...

[@iamalmostanonymous]

@@moonasha Variables in Python are strongly typed, but not statically typed. The name you assign is just a reference to the (strongly typed) object you create. If you focus on the object rather than the reference name (variable name), you can use Python more effectively. Type annotations can help with function/method parameter constraints and intellisense.

[@wyqtor]

You forgot slices. After using Python (or even its derivative, Julia), you can only ask yourself: how can a programming language not have slices?

[@kelvinxg6754]

Typehinting

[@I_hu85ghjo]

The legend! Creators of programming languages deserve more credit imo. All the software today are here because of them.

[@cgmam8923]

I thank this man for providing me my livelihood. God bless Guido!

[@MSIContent]

Hear hear !! 😆

[@grapy83]

kindly explain to me what u mean. im new

[@klirmio21]

@@grapy83 Guido von Rossum created a programming Language Python. That dude thanks him for that, because now he earns a living by being a programmer of Python, brings food to his family table.

[@carvalho9021]

@@klirmio21 Huge W.

[@zeusdeux]

First Carmack and now van Rossum; this is absolutely great!

[@droid16beta97]

Well, it was Guido, then Carmack, and then Guido again.

[@sukatz]

No love for Bjarne 😢

[@zeusdeux]

Gotta get Linus all up in here oh god please

[@alexandermeneses5688]

Hopefully we'll get Carmack round 2 soon

[@alexprengere]

@@sukatz kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4Xbg3lrlsxlbaM&ab_channel=LexFridman

[@jakubstanicek6726]

Its fascinating, that in 1920, one Czech guy wrote a book, its called Rossum's universal robots. About a guy, called Rossum, who invents artificial people. It was a first appearance of a robot in culture, and it coined the word "robot", which comes from czech word for work. Its really cool that real world Rossum invented a language, in which the neural networks used for programing robot are written.

[@mateuszdrewniak7152]

I've never thought of it that way! I'm Polish and our colloquial term for work is 'robota' (the formal one is 'praca'). I've never noticed its similarity to the word 'robot'.

[@jakubstanicek6726]

@@mateuszdrewniak7152 Yeah, I guess I wouldnt either. But czech kids learn this in school, because the author is one of the most important czech writers, and some national pride is connectwd to it as well. Dont know why that is, the word is completely slavic, but we are used to hearing it in such a different context that it sounds really distant

[@mateuszdrewniak7152]

My theory is that they may sound completely unrelated to me because they're both nouns but 'robota' is feminine while 'robot' is masculine. And it doesn't follow the regular rules for word derivation (at least in Polish). We've already got a masculine noun derived from 'robota' which is 'robotnik' (meaning worker).

[@jakubstanicek6726]

@@mateuszdrewniak7152 its weird on purpose, he wanted something that will sound cold and technical. He first came up with a word "labor" ( pronounced in slavic way), but when he told it to his brother, who was a painter, brother didnt like it and suggested robot instead.

[@holdthecup]

The simulation has a lot of easter eggs it seems!

[@tuzaguilar4201]

Thank you Lex for bringing in Guido. I have been a programmer and designer for 3 decades. Recently I had to figure out a tool written in python and in the process have been immersed in the language. It feels like remembering an old love! What an elegant language. Thank you Guido for bringing python to the world.

[@alonsitovillalon]

Damn Lex, kinda wish I had your version of the yellow pages! What a broad range of characters!! I have barely begun the video and I am already intrigued. Awesome

[@allegingcoyote9justus487]

Lex is possibly the best interviewer/podcaster on the internet right now. I love the content, please please please keep it up!

[@mariosever6193]

Lex saving the internet with his podcasts, thank you for this

[@mpeirs5576]

6 8 b

[@nyahhbinghi]

Andrew

[@mghemke]

If you're listening Microsoft, Guido talking about working with the excel team made me very excited about the possibility of python replacing or becoming a more sane alternative for VBA in office products. I know I'm speculating wildly, but one can dream right? (Bonus points if it's python with it's ecosystem, i.e. pandas/matplotlib etc... and you can seamlessly move between python data (e.g. dataframes or numpy arrays) to excel and back. Even more bonus, if you could call arbitrary python code as functions. Biggest bonus if it works out of the box like plain old excel for the non-pythonistas without installing python, managing addons, etc...)

[@_RMSG_]

Technically there are already ways to call arbitrary data as a function, but I would think that almost every time it occurs is not likely to be _good_, or even intentional Edit: It seems like hardware DEP (Data Execution Prevention) actually explicitly works against this....

[@marshalrace9189]

Just to remind you. Microsoft introduced python support for excel🎉

[@joseph-iv6cc]

I am a CPA beginner in python. This has given me a lot of mind shift. Thanks Guido

[@dantedt3931]

Python changed my life. From a non-technical job in sales to leading a Software Development department. Thanks to Guido.

[@dodobarbar]

Lex, you are a pillar, a corner stone, a foundation for what a good interview is. And this is an understatement. I'm amazed every time I watch your show.

[@victorekea]

It's easy to know how intelligent someone is by the way they talk. Guido completely embodies the principles of Python; Easy to understand. Much respect to him.

[@deivitsalazar1991]

I have been waiting for round 2 for 4 years. Thank you for this.

[@directmessages1157]

HIT ME UP 👆👆⬆️⬆️

[@Saitanen]

Excellent session of technical meditation! More extraordinary, amazing & passionate techies please!

[@romandzhadan5546]

Thank you for giving me a chance to listen to such a great conversation ❤

[@moussacoulibaly1656]

Listening this podcast while creating and managing Kubernetes clusters on GCP using Cloud Shell and hearing Lex talking about the dollar sign $ and scripting 😇👨‍💻. I enjoyed the rest of the podcast while writing Python. Thanks Lex for bringing this incredible mind again around the table. God bless Guido.

[@ryanquinn1257]

I love how many topics this hits on. I’m not sure why I never really liked using Python. I did some LED programming in Python on a Pi. I’ve done a sort of threaded Python program to help me maximize parallel downloads on every virtual core available. So even as not a big Python guy this talk hits soooo many computer science concepts in why choices were made. Cool hearing about some of the stylistic background choices of how a language is built.

[@angelogunther6445]

I love your content keep it up Lex! I’ll pursue my goals and maybe one day we will have our own sit down.

[@404T2K]

Big impact, big goals.

[@ciscornBIG]

If you ever get on his show mention this comment so I know it's you! Good luck bro

[@justin3594]

We owe a lot to this man. Python is a beautiful language. Anytime I want to do something in another language I always feel the language getting in the way. Python just feels natural.

[@bld691]

Nature and Man 2049/2051/Unix-Time vote 2036.long.term.thinking.

[@bld691]

C.

[@bld691]

3.kanten.direction.Y.forked.evolution.poll.unit.photo.gramm.etrie.geo.logie.qubits.decentralizedG.7.1.Monday.365

[@bld691]

-π

[@bld691]

24/7 for the Russian revolution!

[@dalerussell1174]

Great interview. Guido is a very humble person, just like the interviewer. As a software developer I got late in my career using Python. It’s just a great language to put something together really quickly and there seems to be a package for everything :)

[@Investigamer]

I grew up writing mostly PHP for backend which I used to adore, before I realized how quirky and annoying it is in a lot of ways. I tried C languages, of course Javascript for front end... and at one point I kinda decided after going to school for Computer Science for awhile that the career path wasn't for me. A few years later, after finding other employment I began to teach myself Python for a passion project, and Python single-handedly reignited my passion and shifted me back towards pursuing computer science and software engineering as a discipline. The elegance yet raw power of Python is truly something to behold, if you've had a lot of experience with other languages. Also, team Pycharm!

[@DuarteMolha]

I frecking love this podcast. I have learned so much from some of the most incredible people. The fact that tv channels still today havent even tried to do long form interviews even as their viewship dwindles is mind-boggling

[@wh0reb0t]

I really don't think the format would translate to TV. A podcast doesn't really fit into a scheduled landscape because of the way people consume them.

[@DuarteMolha]

@@wh0reb0t sure. But most large media companies have an internet content where they simply republish the mindless punditry they force down people's homes. Why not make content like this for their online platforms and show abridged versions on tv?

[@mannykhan7752]

I bought a book that he wrote in 1995 about Python. Great book and taught me a lot. Many thanks to this guy I have one of the best jobs in the world.

[@iamalmostanonymous]

Love my 20 year old Kinesis keyboard! Saved my hands. 46 and still in love with programming.

[@capyk5455]

The computational linguist I am loved Guido's intuition of what a phoneme is at the beginning of the interview. The guy is insanely humble and brilliant. And as others pointed out, millions of us owe our careers to his work.

[@wyqtor]

I am not a linguist, just a foreign language enthusiast (for most of the same reasons that I like computer languages). But if I had enough passive income to make ends meet, I'd probably quit my job and develop a proper Duolingo using NTLK to highlight morphemes in each word of a language and to explain what their function is. There is so much untapped language learning potential from an app that Duolingo simply squanders in order to just get its ad revenue. Could you tell me more about your work? Do you work on language comparison/protolanguage reconstruction? I am a big fan of John McWhorter, Merritt Ruhlen, and Joseph Greenberg, BTW.

[@johanngambolputty5351]

I've been using Python on and off for the last 10 years and only just started using decorators... it's not just about experience, its about what you happen to need and when, what sorts of problems you've been thinking about and what tools they've needed to express. There's no point in just memorising all the features at the start, I definitely agree that you prioritise learning the features relevant to a problem, this contextualises them as well. But in the same time, picking problems with appropriate scope is important too and I maybe wouldn't try to learn an ML method and a programming language in the same time. Especially for a first language, simple toy problems, that you already easily, fundamentally comprehend are probably best, things like, I already know how to differentiate a polynomial, lets write some instructions for that.

[@stevemaidment8620]

I love listening to Guido. He just seems like a great guy to talk to, super smart, humble and a good sense of humour. I love the way he pokes fun at Lex about his ‘spreadsheet for life’.

[@tibbydudeza]

Awesome interview - sometimes take a step back from the social currents and the madness of the world for some good tech interview like Guido and my favourite Jim Keller.

[@loofers]

Lex, I appreciate how you talk about the kinesis keyboard like a warm blanket, a comfort. Very endearing and i think a lot of us are the same, we have our favorite mouse or keyboard, the ergonomics are a comfort and familiar. How you said it felt poetic.

[@gold4963]

I got my internship because of my Python program that stored data from an API call into a local MySQL database. Much thanks for Guido for the great language, making it all possible!

[@r.w.emersonii3501]

In Python, I have stylistic freedom. For example, I supplement indentation with "# {" and "# }" comment lines. I can then use gvim "%" to jump around blocks, functions, classes. In place of "$", I start almost all of my names with a lowercase character -- "f" for function, "a" for argument, "t" for temporary (local) variable, "s" for class attribute, "o" for object, "p" for self pointer. I use cryptic 5-character variable names, then document heavily for the benefit of the human. Thank you, GvR! What a clean beautiful language!

[@r.w.emersonii3501]

Another trick is to put a blank after an opening '(': "tNuLi = ( 1, 2, 3)" instead of "tNuLi = (1, 2, 3)". The extra space makes a difference, and allows the editor's word-skip to land on the first element. In my names, I use the "Li" suffix to denote "list", "Di" for "dict", etc., and replace the "i" with "E" to denote "element": "for tNuLE in tNuLi:". Using coded names helps my editor search to distinguish variables from comments. Four-character name trees: "Init", "InWi", "InWB" (Initialize+window+buttons).

[@MmM-gw3lc]

I am a fisherman on a little ocean boat with weak 3g. Understood every word you said. I want to say Amen to all my brothers and sisters on KZbin.

[@douglaskarabasz5852]

I like that Lex ask him to speak to both audiences. It really started an interesting conversation.

[@aiarchitect.me.]

Please keep providing such podcasts…its a request.

[@gregharris6752]

Wow this couldn't come at a better time. I'm NOT a programmer, but I'm a business owner that runs my own proprietary software. We are looking to do a rip/rewrite from C+ into Python. Thank you for this insight. I sent this to my entire executive team.

[@rogerzen8696]

Lex, great to see you back onto the tech topics!

[@TheScottGillies]

OH MY GOODNESS!! I used to make his coffee and was even hired to teach his son to skate for a while!! I had no idea what he's been up to!! Wow!!! As part of my commute, I've been doing some skating around the old neighborhood and I was honestly wondering how he and his family have been. I'm so happy to see this, his family are some of the kindest people. THS IS BLOWING MY MIND RIGHT NOW!! Please Lex, send Guido my regards. And also, if he's still around town and wanted to drop by and say hello sometime, he can find me at the mall at the t-mobile store.

[@skavenqblight]

3:00 This is exactly true! When you hear a Chinese person speaking English, they speak it based upon how they speak Chinese. In Chinese there are no plurals, no verb conjugation, he/she uses the same word (though it’s different written). So when you hear “You go now, you here 4 hour” - we laugh, but that’s pretty much how you would say it in Chinese. Source: me, I speak English and Chinese fluently. 😊

[@dvsavocs5290]

I'm italian and during school tons of my friends literally translated word for word sentences from italian to english, however it doesn't exactly work like that

[@MyLifeFrAiurGaming]

not entirely true, L and R are two very distinct sounds in mandarin Chinese, i'm not familiar with dialects but it seems that many dialects dont distinguish them especially from south. It just so happen that most chinese migrants all over the world are from south and the older generations didn't speak mandarin like younger people do now in china, that in my opinion is where the stereotype come from about chinese not being able to tell the difference between R and L, which is absurd to for example someone from northern china. On top of that, by tradition when foreign words are translated into Chinese phonetically(like a brand name) they have the liberty to mix up L and R sound to fit certain context, depends on whichever chinese words that happen to sound good in said context, so this is creating a bit confusion for even people who have no problem distinguish L and R.

[@nesa1126]

no plurals? O.o

[@nesa1126]

@𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙨𝘼𝙥𝙥 𝙢𝙚 +𝟏𝟑𝟎𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟎𝟓𝟐𝟕𝟒 Dude, your python AI for finding girlfriend doesn't work... I am not a chick...

[@qweds3127]

Very interesting

[@chris_ibe]

Thanks for coming back to tech related topics. It’s what made this channel so popular in the first place.

[@JRis44]

The Python Master!!! Been learning since February on my free time ever since I got on shore duty!!! I hope to shift from electrical work to software dev if possible! Thanks brotha!!

[@misanthrophex]

Probably first time ever that I really didn't want the interview to end. Thank you

[@GNTHEGUNS]

This was great lex. More of these beginning coders conversations please. Really helps me get things into perspective.

[@vstumpy]

Lex, I hope you see this comment. I think I speak for all of us (the subscribers) when I say that we appreciate your authenticity with podcasting, Many change their style or the genre of people they interview to get the most views. You've never changed, I hope that never changes. Love you Lex!

[@chinqlinq89]

As someone entering into IT/Infosec/CyberSec and is just starting this podcast, can anyone in the industry give me insight on the importance of developing skills with Python? Regarding the value of hiring attractiveness, job growth, but most importantly real world application in the sector?

[@oed572]

Read the book “automate the boring stuff” for a good start into the culture

[@chinqlinq89]

@@oed572 Thanks for the rec. As someone that’s trying to figure out where to allocate time and effort into which specific skillsets for the future, do you think Python is valuable across many positions in the IT/Cyber industry?

[@TCH534]

Look at the job descriptions and if they require python go for it. However, if you want to fall in love with programming…. Python is a good place to start.

[@chinqlinq89]

@@TCH534 That’s great to hear. It was one of, if not the most, recommended programming languages when researching skills to learn for those looking to advance into many intermediate CyberSec roles.

[@gabi-sw8zw]

yeah python is fosho something you need to learn

[@michaelhollis5749]

I've come back home to Python after many forays into other languages: C/C++, Java, Go, PHP, C#...I LOVE being able to form out necessary logic without having to wade through syntactic sugar and multiple layers to dive into. Just get it done! Python support in VSCode is also phenomenal!

[@Hoarzhun]

For those that wonder how to switch between opened files quickly in PyCharm -> ctrl+tab

[@mathlead956]

As someone who has thought deeply about the question at 1:59:35: The fundamental difficulty with parallelism is shared memory. If you just forbid sharing memory between processes, suddenly, parallel programming becomes cognitively easy. That is precisely the reason why Erlang is a functional programming language, not OO one. If you have shared memory, even seemingly atomar statements like random_static_variable++; can cause random stuff to happen.

[@RichardBronosky]

2:59:25 Advice to a beginner on how to learn python 'the right way'. Use the Qtile window manager on Linux. Add features that improve your life. Post them to Reddit for feedback. Iterate. Repeat.

[@tjoleary8738]

Blown away Lex....this was an amazing foray into the minds of two computer scientists! I love how organic the conversation flowed from one topic to another! Also love he fisherman/programmer analogy...lol

[@tinsalvador05]

Perfect timing! Learned so much from this.

[@8purpose867]

nailed it... your questions were really good. And the guest is a necessary guest. Thank you .

[@JetLee1544]

Thank you Lex, these are my favorite ones 👏

[@ImmyYousafzai]

The humility of this genius man is mind boggling. Salute Guido

[@kbaeve]

Very very nice! This was very interesting. If a request is allowed, I would have to say some deep discussion with creators of Rust. This language is just so incredibly exciting and I can't wait to see what the future holds about Rust. Will it find its place etc..

[@wyqtor]

Alan Edelman from the Julia development team would also be an interesting guest. Rust and Julia are my two favorite cutting-edge languages.

[@FreeTicketsX]

This Podcast is the perfect cornerstone for my Python journey

[@joachimschoell8750]

I like the $ of php eg "Hello $name, how are you?" is quite easy to read, especially if the strings get longer and longer. And, second $$name is also a special feature only possible using $ as the starting point of a variable.

[@mrmonkeboy]

apart from the RSI from the awkard postition of the $ on the keyboard.... macro keyboards for the win.

[@richarddevenezia8186]

welcome to indirect referencing

[@t3h2mas]

You now know bash too

[@wyqtor]

f'Hello {name}' is a lot better.

[@videosuperhero100]

Guido's comment at 20:15 is right on the money about how hard it is to learn a language with so much being thrown at you. In college while doing my BS in computer science in the mid 95 - 99, I had never programmed before and the language they taught with was C++. About 6 years later I did a project with Django (a python framework) and was forced to learn python...wholey crap what a difference. I was angry at my college for teaching the fundamentals of programming with C++, it should have been python: less syntax to trip up on, easier to understand error messages. Now when people come to me asking how to learn to code, python is where I start them. Bravo!

[@iAMawakeCANADA]

Perfect for my Saturday night.Thanks Lex. Love you brother.

[@cippo1995]

Great podcast! Some very short take from my little experience with many things, that would need more to explain: - Indentation: 4 is fine, 8 is better, you don't really need more than 3 indentations that often (naive matrix multiplication is 3 indentation, you need often more?). - Bugs: people wants to show their productiveness, so they write without paying attention or thinking much (see copy/paste from stackoverflow). - Keyboards backspace: interesting take, even if I don't feel it that much it is just automatic and fast move (not talking about VIM x,dw,db)... reaching for the mouse is worse. - Choice of language: again people wants productiveness, the priority is producing software (even if slower at runtime)... more of it at the end of this message. - Python: if you listen to how it works from Rossum, you see the complexity behind the "easy to use". - About IDEs: many are cute, with extensions and stuff, they try again to increase productivity (with behind complexity often causing slowness and random bugs). In my experience we as humans really like to make stuff more difficult for an initial impression of ease to use: - Python without libraries as Numpy, Tensorflow and frameworks as PyTorch etc. is good only for simple scripts and should be used only for that. - Fancy IDEs have too many stuff going on, often detrimental to their own use: slowness, memory leaks, crashes, difficulty to make "automatic" stuff to work.

[@DeathValleyDazed]

I’m not a programmer or coder but I’m totally intrigued at 2.5 hours into these two creative people comparing notes about coding, life, and metaphors.

[@BennyJohnson874]

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[@incremental_failure]

Giving too much credit to Fridman here.

[@bradon3946]

love this guy!! please have him back on!

[@bern1e74]

I know bugger all about coding, but listened to every single word. Even though 95% went over my head. I do the same with Quantum Physics interviews. Was hooked.

[@seanh255]

Fisherman knows Sea as much as the programmer knows C.

[@wajihbec1087]

👏

[@whiplashw3948]

Well done

[@ameerkherbawi8466]

Damn

[@angelcaru]

Good thing there's no Sea++. Think of all the fishermen!

[@bobanmilisavljevic420]

I see what you did there

[@ImmyYousafzai]

I find peace listening to this. There is something about how he talks. Maybe that's why python is such a great language ❤

[@lastnamehurt]

I started my professional career using Python. This was refreshing to watch!

[@charlesmcdowell3984]

I just began an IT degree (at 28!) but signed up for programming/dev instead of networking on accident. Student services can get it changed, but I'm kind of thinking about keeping it. Do you have any insight?

[@paulwary]

In my mind what characterises Python is the continual balancing of technical elegance and human factors. The amount of nuanced thought that goes into every Python feature cannot be guessed at from the technical aspects alone.

[@Seperet]

Excited for this. Hope all is well, Lex.

[@MitochondrialSteve]

How the heck do you get these people. You are interviewing ICONIC LEGENDS how have I only just come across you when I have been investigating the whole OpenAI drama and Sam Altman. Legit you are amazing! So in awe

[@KyleEU]

lex its been two years since goggins agreed to a podcast, make it happen!

[@anonymoususer4356]

Thank you Lex, and Mr. Rossum. You both are doing the world a great service!

[@MattDonaldsonLive]

Great episode. I also spent a LOT of time with Actionscript... created a highscore board for flash games that would export results to a php script, which would then update a mysql db. I loved actionscript :( RIP

[@InteractiveDNA]

I build applications with ActionScript that even today still running. What I did in two weeks with ActionScript several programmers can no do today in less than 7 months. ActionScript and Flash die because of the App Store. When Flash started to run with GPU Steve Jobs made a deal with Adobe to kill flash. Today Flash software engineers works for Apple. Apple kill Final Cut Pro to allow Adobe products on Apple devices. Simple as that! Technology changes based on humans greedy.

[@cinedineamyzene436]

I had to listen to this Podcast just to understand the history and journey of all these brilliancy of life changing Python Programming.

[@BretWrightSTUFF]

So cool to watch Lex get his Programmer On!

[@incremental_failure]

Great interview. Love the way Guido explains things, very understandable. I'm using typehints even for my personal project and wish I could enforce typechecking. It's quite essential to follow what's going on when dealing with many various types. Everything I do is threaded, whether it's QThread, multiprocessing or asyncio. Surprised that Guido doesn't think the tradeoff with overhead is sufficient.

[@medvedwanders9627]

It started with two men in the ocean where one is the fisherman… it quickly moved into a conversation only few can follow 😊

[@droid16beta97]

I think they explored topics at a pretty high level. Which parts would be hard to follow?

[@keenoogodlike]

Simple, Ease of use, Readability, Versatile, Productivity, Extremely large standard library. The Best Script-language ever been created.

[@AJyogi108]

Truly an amazing session. ❤🎉

[@jared6680]

i've learned so much about fishing, cooking, restaurant management and how they all work together to write code!

[@grokes_notes]

Amazing,it is impossible anyone could have gone fully by this episode, yet already so many comments

[@egorasirotiv270]

I was waiting for this! All pleasant viewing.

[@LukeBarousse]

The Man. The Myth. The Legend!

[@iboysven]

And Guido van Rossum... another legend!

[@andrewsteele2258]

Lex, I have been a critic on some episodes, and somehow it feels like you read it. You keep getting better. Your guests are amazing. This was a great conversation and in total contrast to certain recent episodes (In terms of topics of conversation). You are on the path to top 10 podcast easily, keep it up!

[@LysergicKids]

Great podcast! To optimize runtime on large datasets; vectorization via NumPy arrays helps tremendously. Particularly when your code has many repeated function calls. 'For-loops' have ~50 μs of overhead, so repeated over 1 million function calls would equal ~50 seconds of incremental runtime. This is useful with large datasets. I don't really find this applicable to most situations however, despite what silicone valley might say. Spending hours vectorizing operations for an insignificant improvement in runtime seems a bit silly. If you got into Python for ML, you're probably already used to vectorization, broadcasting, and indexing.

[@_RMSG_]

Considering the way R automatically does this, it's kind of weird that the Python interpreter doesn't do this for you

[@socratic-programmer]

@@_RMSG_ likely because most of the time the performance gain isn't worth it. The Python interpreter has to decide on the fly whether code should be more aggressively optimized or not. As a rule of thumb, the answer is no, because that extra optimisation takes time and for small/one-off functions the overhead dominates. For code that gets regularly run however it's different. But then you've probably put that in a C library.

[@karamisa2272]

This man is able to talk about seemingly complex concepts so smoothly and clearly.

[@saman6199]

Awesome as always. Thanks Lex Fridman