While there are a ton of tutorials, blog posts, documentation, and other content available to learn about Python and containers, there's something special about learning a new skill from a conference talk. Speakers usually give a more personal perspective and use interesting or quirky metaphors to make their points memorable.
To wrap up 2018, the following are six of our favorite conference talks from the year. You may have missed them during the year, but you should still make time to watch the videos now. They're all on YouTube, and you can find links to them in each talk's description.
Four fantastic talks about Python
Elegant Solutions for Everyday Python Problems
Nina Zakharenko's talk at PyCon is great for novice and experienced Pythonistas alike. She goes into the details of magic methods, partial methods, and decorators (to name a few) and offers tips for when and how to implement these features in your own code.
It's About Time
In April, we wrote about 6 Python datetime libraries, so Russell Keith-Magee's deep dive at DjangoCon US into 2,000 years of history while using Python examples was near and dear to our hearts. This talk is worth your time.
What is a Python Core Developer?
If you've ever been curious about who maintains Python or even wanted to work on Python, Mariatta Wijaya's talk at PyCon US is for you. She covers what Python core developers are responsible for, offers several ways you can help contribute to the Python community, and invites you to start your journey toward becoming a core developer.
Django Against the Dark Arts
If you're familiar with the Harry Potter universe, you will love Lilly Ryan's talk at PyCon Australia, which uses examples from the wizarding world to teach web security concepts. Lilly points out how woefully insecure the entire wizarding world is and introduces several simple techniques you can employ to drastically improve the security of your web app.
Two compelling talks about containers
The Container Operator's Manual
Alice Goldfuss' language-agnostic talk at The Lead Developer London provides an amazing introduction to running containers in production as well as a great overview of what containers are, what they're used for, and why we love them.
An Intro to Docker for Djangonauts
If you're interested in getting started with Docker, Lacey Williams Henschel's talk at DjangoCon US is for you! She uses Harry Potter metaphors to go through the basic parts of a Dockerfile, introduces common Docker commands, and conducts an overview of Docker Compose.
Other opportunities to learn
Watching conference talks is a great way to get an introduction to a new concept or refresh your memory on something you haven't touched in a while. Because many conferences record their talks and post them online, you can benefit from these talks even if you don't often get to attend conferences yourself. For more fun conference talks, check out Death by PowerPoint: These talks break the mold.
But an even better way to learn something new is to give a talk yourself! Check out the Python and Django events on the Python Software Foundation website and consider submitting a talk for 2019. We hope to feature your video next year!
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