Bite Code

bitecode.dev · Personal blog · on HN since 2023

An experienced Python developer writes practical advice on Python packaging and installation, plus posts on htmx, XML, and EU cookie rules.

What HN saysHN commenters praise it as an excellent source of advice for Python users, especially its packaging and installation series.
54HN people shared it
20linked it in comments
95stories submitted
1.5Kstory points
5 months agolast shared
2023people per year2026

Most-shared posts

  1. 1
    Relieving your Python packaging pain
    10 people · 4 points · first shared 2023 · discussion on HN
  2. 2
  3. 3
    There is no EU cookie banner law
    5 people · 54 points · first shared 2024 · 18 comments on HN
  4. 4
    XML Is the Future
    5 people · 6 points · first shared 2023 · 1 comments on HN
  5. 5
    A year of uv: pros, cons, and should you migrate
    3 people · 729 points · first shared 2025 · 394 comments on HN
  6. 6
    Installing Python: The Bare Minimum You Can Get Away With
    3 people · 10 points · first shared 2023 · 9 comments on HN
  7. 7
  8. 8
    A little taste of Htmx (2023)
    3 people · 5 points · first shared 2023 · discussion on HN
  9. 9
    Back to basics with pip and venv
    3 people · first shared 2024
  10. 10
    UV Tricks
    2 people · 25 points · first shared 2024 · 1 comments on HN
  11. 11
  12. 12
    French Competitiveness in IT
    2 people · 11 points · first shared 2024 · discussion on HN
  13. 13
  14. 14
    Let's Compile Python 1.0
    2 people · 7 points · first shared 2023 · discussion on HN
  15. 15
    Kids Are Alright
    2 people · 7 points · first shared 2025 · discussion on HN

What HN people wrote when they linked it

BiteCode_dev · 2023-07-16
99% of everything ever written is crap, so you need filtering the huge quantity of brain manure the humanity keeps producing. And hand written blogs by somebody for several years is very high in my filter list to check out something. So I care very much about your blog. Besides, the best way to make sure there is more quality content in the world is to produce it. And that's why I write https://bitecode.dev. Because I want others to have what I wish I had when I needed it.
Ringz · 2024-02-15
I can understand that well. A few articles from ByteCode! helped me to "follow my intuition" and do as much as possible with native Python tools. https://www.bitecode.dev/p/back-to-basics-with-pip-and-venv https://www.bitecode.dev/p/relieving-your-python-packaging-pain
oconnor663 · 2023-11-09
This pair of articles is excellent, both for good practical advice about installing Python packages, and for its general attitude about how to teach difficult things to large groups of people: https://www.bitecode.dev/p/relieving-your-python-packaging-pain https://www.bitecode.dev/p/why-not-tell-people-to-simply-use Every single decision point or edge case represents permanent failure for hudreds of people and intense frustration for thousands. Of course, none of this is really to do with Python the language. It's more about the wide userbase, large set of packages and use cases, and overlapping generations of legacy tools. But most of it isn't C/C++/Fortran's fault either.
emptysongglass · 2023-07-16
For Pythonistas or people interested in Python, I can't plug the commenter's newsletter enough: it is an absolute treasure trove of good advice for new and old users of Python. They did a whole series on the right way to install and use Python [1]. If you follow their advice you'll never struggle with any of the problems people complain of encountering with Python. [1] https://www.bitecode.dev/p/installing-python-the-bare-minimum
throwitaway1123 · 2023-12-23
> "React" has been around for 10 years but in practice its been 3.5 different frameworks > the class version (still close enough to original) React.createClass existed because React is so old that not every browser supported native classes, and it was ditched when browser support improved. It was a relatively seamless transition. The rest of your bullet points are basically restating what we've already discussed. There have been two major changes in the past decade: hooks and server components. Again, I'm fine with two changes over the course of more than a decade. To give you an example of a Go project that is roughly the same age as React and has introduced major breaking changes take a look at InfluxDB. It went from using SQL and InfluxQL as a query language in v1, to Flux in v2 as the headlining feature, then back to SQL and InfluxQL in version 3 recently [0]. > You can't use more than one context in React classes You can, it just requires render props which are verbose (as I've already stated). There's a whole section of the legacy docs on this. This was one of the many motivations for the creation of hooks. > 10 different popular libraries for manipulating standard library collections Not really. Lodash is obviously the standard choice, and at one point Underscore had a bit of a following too. We wouldn't need these libraries if TC39 didn't drag its feet implementing the standard library, but browser technology has many stakeholders so it's a slow process. > In…
ploum · 2026-01-13
It should be said again and again that: 1. There’s no law requiring a cookie popup. 2. In Europe, most Cookie popup are, in fact, completely illegal 3. Most cookie popup come from the same actor who designed them to be, on purpose, as annoying as possible in order to decrease the popular support for the EU GDPR law. https://www.bitecode.dev/p/there-is-no-eu-cookie-banner-law
user070223 · 2024-10-07
Thanks, I just found out about .pythonstartup and setup writing history to a file and pretty printing with pprint / rich. https://www.bitecode.dev/p/happiness-is-a-good-pythonstartup or search for a gist
MrVandemar · 2024-05-15
See also pretty much the same thing a few years later for XML! https://www.bitecode.dev/p/hype-cycles
thinker5555 · 2024-05-10
A little over a year ago I was struggling with python related to packaging and managing my own dependencies. I found a blog post called "Relieving your Python packaging pain"[0] that piqued my interest with its simplicity. A couple of days later, the author released another post called "Why not tell people to 'simply' use pyenv, poetry, pipx, or anaconda"[1], which included the how-to steps outlined in their first post, and generated a sizeable discussion[2] on HN. Being on a Mac, this really has made things so much easier for me. I'm not a professional developer by any means, but more like a hobbiest+ as I make things to help automate away some pain points within the small company I work for. [0] https://www.bitecode.dev/p/relieving-your-python-packaging-pain [1] https://www.bitecode.dev/p/why-not-tell-people-to-simply-use [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35379008
bumbledraven · 2024-04-10
That is a problem with the Python packaging ecosystem in general, not with aider. @BiteCode_Dev wisely advises beginners to use virtual environments to install anything that uses Python: https://www.bitecode.dev/p/back-to-basics-with-pip-and-venv
lb4r · 2024-03-25
> See also: "Why not tell people to "simply" use pyenv, poetry or anaconda" > https://www.bitecode.dev/p/why-not-tell-people-to-simply-use Just curious: what are the downsides of poetry installed with pipx? The article mentions having to install poetry in another venv, but that's hardly an issue with pipx (you just add an 'x' after 'pip'), and installing pipx is as straight-forward as it can be.
wooptoo · 2024-03-18
Just read an article about this a couple of days ago which went into more detail: https://www.bitecode.dev/p/there-is-no-eu-cookie-banner-law
Hackbraten · 2024-01-16
You might like Relieving your Python packaging pain [1]. The article seems to come to a similar conclusion as you do. [1]: https://www.bitecode.dev/p/relieving-your-python-packaging-pain
ngcc_hk · 2023-11-09
Just go to read: https://www.bitecode.dev/p/relieving-your-python-packaging-pain TL; DR The reason why we need virtual this and that in python is that some work in one and some work in the others. This is particularly problematic in macOS where sometimes the system fall back to the default (somewhat default) python compiler. I even have script to check version and lots of environment for running different program. It is a mess. After this magic, is there a new packaging environment, procedure, ... for the rest of us?
meiraleal · 2023-10-21
> I started to write an HTMX tutorial (https://www.bitecode.dev/p/a-little-taste-of-htmx-part-1) because I noticed a lot of young coders don't understand what to do with it. They read the tweets saying it's nice, but when they look at it, it makes no sense to them. I agree with you but HTMX? That's a big abstraction layer. A good one but still, not really a way to avoid layers of abstraction. Pure JS makes more sense.
Eisenstein · 2023-06-15
Not appealing to anyone; I thought it was a clever quote. * https://www.bitecode.dev/p/why-not-tell-people-to-simply-use EDIT -- Here is the quote: There are usually two kinds of coders giving advises. A fresh one that has no idea how complex things really are, yet. Or an experienced one, that forgot it.
montebicyclelo · 2023-06-13
1. Not sure what you mean? "is irrelevant to OPs problem" -> op advises to not use conda as a solution for Python packaging 2. This is easier than what you propose, because conda will install the python version for the env on the fly (including the patch version): conda create -n myproject python=3.9.4 conda activate myproject NB. if we're being pedantic, conda and anaconda are different Yep, should be minor, but I chose to use the same language as the article [1] [1] https://www.bitecode.dev/i/110377053/dont-install-the-latest-major-ver…
linuxftw · 2023-06-13
I think this article is rather long-winded and not super informative. The previous post [1] lays out what one should actually do, and I agree with most of it, at least from a developer perspective. 1: https://www.bitecode.dev/p/relieving-your-python-packaging-pain

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