I'm Oliver Russell, a Python dev (amongst other things) based in London, reach me at ojhrussell[at]gmail.com, subscribe via rss, read my CV.

✨ New! ✨

• Stop using pytest fixtures
• Changing and compiling the cpython interpreter
• Fast and simple side-by-side diffs for Python
• Postgres locks explorer

Handy database tips. According to Google, these are way more interesting than anything else here.

• SQLAlchemy relationship loading techniques with examples for v1, for v2
• Everyone should use Postgres advisory locks!
• Most of the time, you can use Postgres as a queue
• Don't get bitten by missing foreign key indexes
• Postgres locks explorer
• Weeding out flakey database tests

A series of posts where I reimplement a minimal version of something to demonstrate how it works.

• 33 line React-like library, and followup, also a 96 line React with JSX
• Use TSX whilst avoiding npm hell on small projects
• Ever wondered what the hell is going on with your pandas.DataFrame, check this out

Weenie posts reducing some computer science concept down to its essentials. There are many different takes on these topics scattered across the internet.

• Tips for tricky leet code style questions in interviews
• What does covariant mean?
• Sudoku solving using a custom backtracking constraint solver
• Lambda calculus in modern JavaScript
• Reach OO/closure nirvana
• Weenie LISP parser
• Then a smol Pratt parser

Stop doing things.

• The CMD-click manifesto
• Stop doing OO so much
• Stop using mad config
• Stop using pytest fixtures

High level thoughts on professional programming.

• Monolith? Microservices? Manipleservices
• Test categorisation Zen

Python/JavaScript/TypeScript and bobs.

• UpSet plots are useful
• Using TypeIs in Python
• mypyc is quick
• Useful pytest plugins
• Strongly type your Web 1.0 interfaces
• Python virtualenvs for Node devs
• A tiny bit about recursing with the yield statement
• I can never remember how to git bisect, or git diff after a rebase
• Evolving backend → frontend rendered Python/JS apps with dnjs
• Changing and compiling the cpython interpreter

What-ifs.

• What if we'd had nice html-in-js syntax from the beginning?
• Can we add syntax to contain mutations
• Contrair articles countering certain premises
• A piece about potential nested SQL queries

Cycling.

• Guide for n00bs cycling in London
• Day trips from Central London
• Wild swimming from Central London

Other junk.

• I played some double bass
• Summary of the book "Consciousness and the Social Brain"
• Karl Popper essay - Ideal and reality in society
• Check out my weird music

Github gists/stars.

• Random gists
• Useful stars

Here are some of my projects, none of them are particularly prod-ready, just things that have scratched various itches over the years.

• stepping - incremental view maintenance for application developers
• ocdiff - fast and simple side-by-side diffs for Python
• pgtestdbpy - use Postgres TEMPLATE dbs in tests
• isjsonschemasubset - does what it says on the tin
• sqlski - Postgres-side nesting of data for Python
• dnjs - a Python interpreter for a useful subset of JS
• immerframe - a neat way to make deep immutable changes in Python with structural sharing
• towpath - a js library using proxies to attach paths to values in a nested structure
• dawdle - a very half-baked DSL showing how a neat relational language could look like
• fussball - a Bayesian-ly founded table-football scoreboard (would work for ping-pong too)

Below is a minimalist blocks game, see the page source to see how it works!