The Best Python Blogs
Python is one of the most popular programming languages in use today, so I went on a journey to find the best Python blogs on the internet. Each of these sites demonstrates technical expertise, is relatively easy to comprehend, publishes content consistently, and has stood the test of time.
During this process, I used the same approach for analyzing and comparing common qualities (or deficiencies) in each of the Python programming blogs.
I looked at the depth of each blog’s technical content and the usefulness of that content. I read a few posts from start to finish to get a sense of the writing quality and comprehensibility. I looked at how consistently the python bloggers publish new content, and I did some digging to learn how long each site has been around.
Here are the top 29 Python blogs I found:
1. effbot
Effbot is a minimalist early 2000s blog that hosts hundreds of articles on Python and related technologies. You’ll be glad you discovered this expansive resource consisting of overviews, repositories, articles, and some of the best python tutorials covering all proficiency levels and unique user applications. Effbot’s articles offer comprehensive details and cogent explanations of advanced technical problems and strategies. While the content is mostly technical, both summaries and examples alike are clean and organized.
- Writing Quality - 4
- Consistency - 3
- Longevity - 4
- Technical Depth - 5
- Broad Usefulness - 4
Overall Score: 4.75
2. r/Python
Reddit is a massive crowd-sourced message board with a ‘subreddit’ specifically dedicated to Python, among other programming languages. “r/Python,” est. 2008, is probably one of the best programming subreddits you can find on the topic of Python. It’s composed of a large community of members (>500K) with varying degrees of proficiency who share dozens of questions, solutions, and ideas every day. As is the case with some message boards, there are no sub-categories or sub-subreddits, so all posts are centralized in one location. Writing is often clear and high quality, depending on the writer; however, all posts are subjective and contributed solely by other Reddit users, so readability, clarity, and even language fluency does not always meet expectations.
- Writing Quality - 4
- Consistency - 5
- Longevity - 5
- Technical Depth - 5
- Broad Usefulness - 4
Overall Score: 4.6
3. Real Python
Real Python is an educational platform with a large archive of blog posts, tutorials, books, and courses. The content ranges in difficulty level and technical objective. While some of the books and courses are purchase-only, there is an abundance of useful information from 2013 to present made freely available to developers of all backgrounds. Writing is clear, well-researched, aesthetically formatted, and readers can look forward to several new blog posts regularly every month.
- Writing Quality - 4
- Consistency - 5
- Longevity - 4
- Technical Depth - 5
- Broad Usefulness - 5
Overall Score: 4.6
4. PyImageSearch
PyImageSearch is a niche community that revolves around development in Computer Vision, Deep Learning, and OpenCV. Live since 2014, you’ll be greeted with weekly blog posts offering some of the best Python programming expertise online, ranging from beginner to expert proficiency. The writing is clean, sharp, and informative, with no filler text or useless gifs, but be prepared for ample promotional links.
- Writing Quality - 4
- Consistency - 5
- Longevity - 4
- Technical Depth - 5
- Broad Usefulness - 4
Overall Score: 4.4
5. Matt Layman
Matt Layman is a self-named personal blog, composed of text, audio, and video posts demonstrating useful techniques, strategies, tutorials, and tips. The writing quality is above average, clean, and simple, with few errors and well-organized examples that help the blog’s message without being overly promotional. Impressively active since 2008, followers can expect a few sporadic posts every month.
- Writing Quality - 4
- Consistency - 4
- Longevity - 5
- Technical Depth - 5
- Broad Usefulness - 4
Overall Score: 4.4
6. Python Programming
Python Programming is a content hub featuring multi-level tutorials in varying difficulty levels across several popular Python use-cases, including Machine Learning, Web Dev, Bots & AI, Finance, and Quantum Computing. The publishing strategy is tutorial-centric, but after you start a tutorial, you’ll find the technical subject to be excellently presented with ample detail and supporting evidence. The writing is not poor, just not great. Some necessary links are present, other times they are not where you’d expect to find them.
- Writing Quality - 3
- Consistency - N/A
- Longevity - N/A
- Technical Depth - 5
- Broad Usefulness - 5
Overall Score: 4.3
7. The Mouse vs. the Python
Mouse vs. Python is a personal blog that shares content on a variety of topics in both written and video formats. A recurring post type seems to be one-on-one interviews with developers, which may be less useful to current programmers than tutorials and technical breakdowns. That’s not to say the technical depth is not above average, as both formats provide moderate expertise and value. The blog has been around since 2008 and has established itself as a reliable publisher of content, as readers can typically expect 5-15 new posts every month. Mouse vs. Python’s writing is simple and cogent enough to comprehend.
- Writing Quality - 3
- Consistency - 5
- Longevity - 5
- Technical Depth - 4
- Broad Usefulness - 4
Overall Score: 4.2
8. Finxter
Finxter is an educational Python blog platform that offers everything from newbie guides to intermediate puzzles to in-depth technical guides and challenges. Finxter has featured regular posts every month since 2012. The writing is good, not great, with marginal room for language improvement. Like many Python programming blogs, Finxter’s content quality is boosted by supportive links and applicable references.
- Writing Quality - 4
- Consistency - 4
- Longevity - 5
- Technical Depth - 4
- Broad Usefulness - 4
Overall Score: 4.2
9. Pyfound
PyFound is the Blog arm of the Python Foundation, which has published official development updates, industry conferences, and project timelines since 2011. While the blog is informative and provides useful links, it’s predicated on sharing the organization’s development progress and community events. If you sift through the event and fundraiser updates, you’ll find the technical subject matter is thoroughly researched, and the writing is clear, concise, and published with few errors. New posts are sporadic but can be expected between one and five times per month.
- Writing Quality - 4
- Consistency - 3
- Longevity - 5
- Technical Depth - 5
- Broad Usefulness - 3
Overall Score: 4.0
10. Full Stack Python
Full Stack Python is a personally-managed blog for Python developers and devs to-be. Active since 2012, posts are a combination of original content and automatically aggregated posts from other publications. The articles are predominantly technical findings, explanations, tutorials, and the like. The blog’s content is in-depth, shows a range of technical expertise, and maintains a clear and concise voice with no major red flags. Unfortunately, new content is published unpredictably and in seemingly random batches.
- Writing Quality - 4
- Consistency - 2
- Longevity - 4
- Technical Depth - 5
- Broad Usefulness - 5
Overall Score: 4.0
11. Ned Batchelder
Ned Batchelder is the personal blog of veteran Python developer Ned Batchelder. This is one of the oldest and most original Python bloggersrom the early 2000s. There’s plenty of content dating back nearly 20 years; some topics being detailed breakdowns, others simple one paragraph tips. Ned keeps his content simple with no frills. Blog posts are clear enough to get the point across while sacrificing some elegance. The only improvement I can recommend would be more frequent posts; you’d be lucky to get one per month. Fortunately, there’s a huge backlog of posts to study up on, and it comes directly from the mind of a programmer who’s experimented with and written Python longer than most.
- Writing Quality - 3
- Consistency - 3
- Longevity - 5
- Technical Depth - 5
- Broad Usefulness - 4
Overall Score: 4.0
12. Practical Business Python
Practical Business Python is a Python blog platform boasting a variety of applicable technical subjects, primarily around Python business use cases and operability versus podcasts or interviews. Articles demonstrate strong technical knowledge supported with pertinent screenshots. Most posts are more functional than fluid, but not without references or properly supportive links. Followers can expect 1-2 posts sporadically per month but should be entertained while they wait by perusing the trove of articles going back to 2014.
- Writing Quality - 4
- Consistency - 3
- Longevity - 4
- Technical Depth - 5
- Broad Usefulness - 4
Overall Score: 4.0
13. Python Tips / Yasoob.me
Python Tips is a personal blog that explores technical applications and nuances of Python. You’ll find a large collection of articles, guides, explanations, and deep-dives, sure to be useful for most Python programmers. Yasoob, the blog’s sole writer since 2013, showcases a strong technical grasp of the whats, wheres, whens, whys, and hows to walk the reader through complex concepts with clarity and detail. Its usefulness is hamstrung by periods of sporadic posting, followed by 2-3 months of silence. Like many Python blogspots, the articles are informative and packed with data and supporting links. However, it also reads like many programming blogs: substance over aesthetics.
- Writing Quality - 3
- Consistency - 3
- Longevity - 4
- Technical Depth - 5
- Broad Usefulness - 5
Overall Score: 4.0
14. Invent with Python
Invent with Python is an educational Python programming blog by Al Sweigart, a Python veteran, and teacher. The blog is predicated on providing free tools, guides, courses, and tutorials to help beginners learning to code. You’ll find technical articles with a sprinkle of hobby projects and layman term explanation, and any developer very well may find this blog useful, entertaining, or a combination of both. It would be more useful if it were updated regularly (there have only been 1-2 new posts in 2020), but the site has been around since 2009.
- Writing Quality - 4
- Consistency - 2
- Longevity - 5
- Technical Depth - 5
- Broad Usefulness - 4
Overall Score: 4.0
15. STX Next
STX Next is a software company’s brand name Python programming blog. Developers may be disappointed to find a large portion of the articles are generic ‘How to’ or ‘Average Salaries,’ with company promotions dispersed within. While many of the articles are not technical, the ones that are seem penned by software developers and show a strong technical knowledge of Python. Each post boasts an excellent command of language, grammar, and an abundance of supporting links and references.
- Writing Quality - 5
- Consistency - N/A
- Longevity - N/A
- Technical Depth - 4
- Broad Usefulness - 3
Overall Score: 4.0
16. PyCharm
PyCharm is the blog arm of JetBrains’ integrated development environment for Python programming. Whether it’s a product update, article, tutorial, webinar, or interview, PyCharm has consistently published a handful of new posts each month for years. While there are quite a bit of company promotions and sales plugs, there is an abundance of insightful information. Even outright sales pitches have references to Python fundamentals, user guides, and an overview of programming concepts necessary to use the product. Because most posts are primarily video/audio recordings or short-form text, there isn’t much writing to be evaluated. Still, what’s there has no glaring marks or inaccuracies, and supporting links are plentiful.
- Writing Quality - 4
- Consistency - 5
- Longevity - 3
- Technical Depth - 4
- Broad Usefulness - 3
Overall Score: 3.8
17. PyBloggers
PyBloggers is a hub for Python programmers that collects feeds from other blogs and updates them when a new post is available. Articles include tutorials, walkthroughs, introductions, and project ideas for developers. While the content is aggregated from other sources, PyBloggers pulls quality articles that display strong technical knowledge and detailed step-by-step lessons. Readers will enjoy content with fluid and polished language that complements the subject matter. While the programming blog has been around since 2007, it has not been active since 2019.
- Writing Quality - 4
- Consistency - 1
- Longevity - 5
- Technical Depth - 5
- Broad Usefulness - 4
Overall Score: 3.8
18. Doug Hellman
Doug Hellman’s technical blog features posts that toggle between brief patches and in-depth analysis of methodologies. The subject matter may be useful to some, but it’s hit or miss, depending on whether your objective is information or function. The posts, dating back to 2006, sufficiently demonstrate working proficiency and understanding of existing and new updates as they affect current programming. The content, typically at least 1-2 sporadic posts per month, is clean and to the point with reliable in-text links to supporting references.
- Writing Quality - 4
- Consistency - 3
- Longevity - 5
- Technical Depth - 4
- Broad Usefulness - 3
Overall Score: 3.8
19. Python Conquers the Universe
Python Conquers the Universe is a personal blog that features a wide array of articles on both simple and complex technical topics. All content is in-depth and offers extensive practical insights without brand promotion. The writing is geared towards backend developers, with ample examples and backlinks, but the language and abundance of errors hamstring the content. While the blog is over ten years old, it has been inactive since 2015.
- Writing Quality - 3
- Consistency - 1
- Longevity - 5
- Technical Depth - 4
- Broad Usefulness - 5
Overall Score: 3.6
20. Planet SciPy
Planet SciPy is an open-source blog aggregator for computing in Python. It features a combination of articles, experiments, ‘week in review’ newsletters, conference updates, patch releases, and the occasional brand promotion. Though it was launched just last year, you’ll find multiple posts per week (aggregated from various publishers, some of which may not be Python-specific). Accordingly, the writing varies in quality, but on average, posts are easy to read with few errors.
- Writing Quality - 4
- Consistency - 5
- Longevity - 1
- Technical Depth - 4
- Broad Usefulness - 4
Overall Score: 3.6
21. PyDanny
PyDanny is the personal blog of Python veteran Daniel Feldroy. Since 2012, he’s analyzed programming topics and offered up personal musings here. The writing is fairly basic, consisting of simple language and some links that tend to be more promotional than supportive of the subject matter. The blog has been around for nearly a decade, and on average, publishes 1-2 posts per month, and occasionally a month or two with no activity.
- Writing Quality - 3
- Consistency - 2
- Longevity - 5
- Technical Depth - 4
- Broad Usefulness - 4
Overall Score: 3.6
22. Planet Python
Planet Python is another blog that automatically aggregates Python-related articles from other sources. Its most valuable resource is the large index of externally-linked blogs and developer repositories on page-left. Posts vary widely but can be relied on for technical expertise. The writing quality varies from blog to blog, with some articles feeling more like a personal blog and some resembling an informational reference.
- Writing Quality - 3
- Consistency - 5
- Longevity - 3
- Technical Depth - 4
- Broad Usefulness - 3
Overall Score: 3.6
23. Coding for Entrepreneurs
Coding for Entrepreneurs is a self-educational course and project blog that helps newbies learn how to code from scratch (Python, among other languages). The content is fairly detailed and provides step-by-step processes, both in the courses and projects. While new posts are sporadic and sometimes appear rapidly in clusters, the blog sometimes reverts to long periods of silence. Fortunately, there is a trove of courses and projects going back to 2016 to keep you busy. The blog’s writing varies by the author; some posts are great, others less so.
- Writing Quality - 3
- Consistency - 3
- Longevity - 3
- Technical Depth - 4
- Broad Usefulness - 4
Overall Score: 3.4
24. Kite
Kite encompasses several authors’ contributed blog posts to form a diverse collection of topics, ranging from beginner to advanced difficulty and applications. The posts, while limited in historical volume, are insightful, in-depth, long-form technical explanations that many programmers may find useful. Posts are well-written and organized with only minor blemishes. Formed in 2018, Kite was updated periodically every month but has been inactive since 2019.
- Writing Quality - 4
- Consistency - 1
- Longevity - 2
- Technical Depth - 5
- Broad Usefulness - 4
Overall Score: 3.2
25. SkillSoft
SkillSoft is an educational software company that produces learning management systems and content. Python-related topics on the blog only extend a few years back. However, the company has been around since the late ’90s, and you can find more relevant programming content closer to then. Even so, you shouldn’t expect a new post with any sort of regularity.
As a blog from an established tech company, it’s not surprising that the writing quality is excellent and pushes relatively little company promotion. From a technical standpoint, posts offer valuable content with extensive detail. While SkillSoft doesn’t publish quite as much content as other blogs, the articles they do have are modern, insightful, and actionable.
- Writing Quality - 5
- Consistency - 2
- Longevity - 2
- Technical Depth - 4
- Broad Usefulness - 3
Overall Score: 3.2
26. Python Central
Python Central is an educational Python programming hub with a wide assortment of categories. The videos and tutorials are great for any beginner or intermediate programmer but lack much depth for experienced developers. While the articles provide functional (sometimes boring) examples, the occasional errors can be distracting. Despite not publishing since 2019, there’s solid information dating back to 2012 for anyone looking to learn the fundamentals.
- Writing Quality - 3
- Consistency - 1
- Longevity - 5
- Technical Depth - 3
- Broad Usefulness - 4
Overall Score: 3.2
27. Python Guru
The Python Guru is a multi-dimensional programming resource that combines both backend developer guides and web content’ listicles.’ Started in 2019, Python Guru is a newer blog and admittedly a work-in-progress. The publishing schedule, if one exists yet, is sporadic: sometimes more than a dozen new posts appear in a month. Other months? Zilch. While the posts show technical understanding and experience in the subject matter, the grammar has room for improvement.
- Writing Quality - 2
- Consistency - 3
- Longevity - 2
- Technical Depth - 4
- Broad Usefulness - 4
Overall Score: 3.0
28. Simple is Better Than Complex
Simple is Better Than Complex is the personal programming blog of Vitor Freitas. You’ll find articles, videos, and tutorials that Python devs would appreciate, but unfortunately, there isn’t a huge archive to dig through. The posts provide detailed solutions, and the writing’s simplicity helps make up for its typos and occasional run-ons.
- Writing Quality - 3
- Consistency - 1
- Longevity - 3
- Technical Depth - 4
- Broad Usefulness - 3
Overall Score: 2.8
This concludes my quest to identify, analyze, and rank the best Python blogs in 2020. While my grading system may not be perfect, it allowed me to assign some numerical value to each blog and let the data do the talking. It’s a satisfying approach for the technical blogger in me.
Know other blogs or python bloggers I should consider for this list? Click here to submit it.
If you’ve enjoyed this, don’t miss our other Best Technical Blogs lists.
By Matthew Warholak
Matt is a Technical Writer and Editor for Technology, Financial Services, and everything in-between. When he's not writing or editing, he's analyzing commodity markets, ideating new ventures, or learning French.
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