Reference library

Python Code Samples

Easy snippets you can copy, study, and run in the browser editor.

158 matches
Data pipelines & processing easy

How to Merge Incremental Snapshot Upsert Dict in Python

Merge a snapshot dict into a base dict, recursively updating nested dictionaries while preferring snapshot values on conflicts.

dict merge upsert
Python
def merge_upsert(base: dict, snapshot: dict) -> dict:
    """
    Merge a snapshot dict into a base dict, preferring snapshot values 
    on key conflicts (upsert semantics). Nested dicts are merged recursively.
    """
    result = dict(base)
    
    for key, value in snapshot.items():
        if key in result and i…
14 0 Open
Data pipelines & processing easy

How to create a dated snapshot path for a dataset in Python

Generate a versioned directory path combining a base directory, dataset name, and today's date, ready for creating snapshots in data pipelines.

date pathlib datasets
Python
import datetime
import os
from pathlib import Path


def snapshot_path(base_dir: str, dataset_name: str) -> Path:
    """Return a dated snapshot path for a dataset under a base directory."""
    today = datetime.date.today().isoformat()
    return Path(base_dir) / dataset_name / today


if __name__ == "__main__":
    …
15 0 Open
Data pipelines & processing easy

Rollback dataset to previous snapshot pointer in Python

A SnapshotManager class stores timestamped data snapshots and rolls back to the most recent snapshot at or before a target time.

snapshots rollback datetime
Python
from datetime import datetime, timedelta


class SnapshotManager:
    def __init__(self):
        self.snapshots = {}  # timestamp -> data
        self.current_pointer = None

    def create_snapshot(self, data):
        timestamp = datetime.now()
        self.snapshots[timestamp] = data
        self.current_pointer =…
13 0 Open
Git + Python easy

How to Build a Git Helper Class in Python

A beginner-friendly GitHelper class that wraps common git commands (status, log, branch) into reusable Python methods with structured output.

git subprocess automation
Python
import subprocess
import json
from pathlib import Path


class GitHelper:
    def __init__(self, repo_path="."):
        self.repo = Path(repo_path)

    def run(self, *args):
        result = subprocess.run(
            ["git", *args],
            cwd=self.repo,
            capture_output=True,
            text=True,…
13 0 Open
Git + Python easy

How to sync a fork with upstream in Python

Run git fetch and merge commands from Python with subprocess to sync a forked repository with upstream/main.

git subprocess automation
Python
import subprocess
import sys


def sync_fork_with_upstream():
    """Simulate syncing a forked repo with upstream via git commands."""

    # Mock git operations: pretend to fetch from upstream and merge into main
    fetch_result = subprocess.run(
        ["git", "fetch", "upstream"],
        capture_output=True, tex…
12 0 Open
Cloud + Python easy

Generate Mock CloudFormation Stack Events in Python

Generate a list of mock AWS CloudFormation stack events with random resources, statuses, and timestamps, and print them as JSON.

cloudformation mock aws
Python
import json
import random
from datetime import datetime, timedelta

def generate_mock_stack_events(stack_name="MyTestStack", num_events=10):
    """Generate a list of mock CloudFormation stack events."""
    resources = [
        ("AWS::S3::Bucket", "MyBucket"),
        ("AWS::EC2::Instance", "MyInstance"),
        ("…
16 0 Open
Cloud + Python easy

How to Create a JSON Data Helper in Python

A beginner-friendly DataHelper class that safely reads and writes JSON files with timestamps to a local data directory.

json files data-helper
Python
from datetime import datetime
from pathlib import Path
import json


class DataHelper:
    """Simple helper for reading/writing JSON files safely."""

    def __init__(self, base_dir="data"):
        self.base_dir = Path(base_dir)
        self.base_dir.mkdir(exist_ok=True)

    def save(self, filename, data):
        …
13 0 Open
Cloud + Python easy

How to Validate AWS Security Group Ingress Rules in Python

Validates AWS security group ingress rules (protocol, port ranges, CIDR, description) and returns a list of errors or OK.

aws security-groups validation
Python
from dataclasses import dataclass
from typing import List, Optional

@dataclass
class SecurityGroupRule:
    protocol: str
    port_range: tuple
    cidr: str
    description: str = ""

def validate_ingress_rule(rule: SecurityGroupRule) -> List[str]:
    """Validate a security group ingress rule against common AWS pat…
11 0 Open
Cloud + Python easy

Mock GCP Secret Manager access version in Python

A minimal mock of GCP Secret Manager that stores secret versions, retrieves payloads by version, and logs access timestamps.

gcp secret-manager mock
Python
import json
import time
from datetime import datetime, timezone


class MockSecretManager:
    """Minimal mock of GCP Secret Manager access/version behavior."""

    def __init__(self):
        self._secrets = {}
        self._access_log = []

    def create_secret(self, secret_id: str, payload: str) -> dict:
        …
15 0 Open
Modern tooling easy

Build a Recipe Runner Mock in Python

A Python script that mocks a command runner recipe system: maps recipe names to shell commands, executes them with subprocess, and prints the output and exit code.

subprocess command-runner recipes
Python
import subprocess
import sys


def run_recipe(recipe: str) -> None:
    """Simulate a command runner recipe by printing the command and exit code."""
    print(f"Running recipe: {recipe}")
    result = subprocess.run(recipe, shell=True, capture_output=True, text=True)
    print(f"Exit code: {result.returncode}")
    i…
16 0 Open
Modern tooling easy

How to Generate a Mock Rollbar Error Report in Python

Create a realistic fake Rollbar error report with random timestamps, levels, messages, and counts for testing and demos.

rollbar mock-data error-reporting
Python
import json
import random
import time
from datetime import datetime, timedelta


def mock_rollbar_report(n_errors=5):
    messages = [
        "TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +: 'int' and 'str'",
        "KeyError: 'user_id'",
        "ValueError: invalid literal for int() with base 10: 'abc'",
        "At…
13 0 Open
Modern tooling easy

How to Mock docker compose up Healthcheck in Python

Simulate docker compose up with a healthcheck cycle using Python loops, delays, and simulated service statuses.

docker healthcheck simulation
Python
import subprocess
import time

def run_healthcheck():
    """Mock a docker compose up with a healthcheck cycle."""
    services = ["web", "db", "cache"]
    
    print("Starting docker compose services...")
    for service in services:
        print(f"[{service}] starting...")
        time.sleep(0.1)
        print(f"[…
15 0 Open
Modern tooling easy

How to Parse Taskfile YAML in Python

Load a Taskfile.yaml with PyYAML and simulate task execution by returning each task's commands.

yaml taskfile pyyaml
Python
import yaml
from pathlib import Path

def load_taskfile(taskfile_path: str) -> dict:
    """Load and parse a Taskfile.yaml file into a dict."""
    data = Path(taskfile_path).read_text()
    return yaml.safe_load(data)

def run_task(taskfile: dict, task_name: str) -> dict:
    """Simulate running a task by returning i…
14 0 Open
Concurrency & performance easy

How to Use ThreadPoolExecutor and ProcessPoolExecutor in Python

Compares ThreadPoolExecutor and ProcessPoolExecutor by running CPU-bound and I/O-tolerant tasks over a large list, printing elapsed times and first results.

concurrency threadpool processpool
Python
import time
from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor, ProcessPoolExecutor
import math

numbers = list(range(1, 1000001))


def compute_square(n):
    return n * n


def compute_sqrt(n):
    return math.sqrt(n)


def run_executor(executor, func, data):
    start = time.perf_counter()
    results = list(executo…
15 0 Open
Concurrency & performance easy

How to use ThreadPoolExecutor for concurrent tasks in Python

Run blocking functions in parallel with ThreadPoolExecutor and as_completed, cutting total runtime from 5 sequential sleeps to about 1 second.

concurrency threadpoolexecutor parallel
Python
import time
from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor, as_completed


def fetch_data(item):
    """Simulate a slow operation with a fixed delay."""
    time.sleep(0.2)
    return item * 2


def main():
    items = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
    start = time.perf_counter()

    with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=3) as ex…
14 0 Open
Testing & modern typing easy

Capture stdout and stderr with pytest capsys

Use pytest's capsys fixture to capture and assert on standard output and error streams in your tests.

pytest testing capture
Python
import pytest

# Function under test
def greet(name):
    print(f"Hello, {name}!")
    print(f"Error: {name} not found", file=sys.stderr)

def test_captures_stdout_and_stderr(capsys):
    greet("Alice")
    captured = capsys.readouterr()
    
    assert "Hello, Alice!" in captured.out
    assert "Error: Alice not foun…
14 0 Open
System design patterns easy

How to Aggregate Mock API Routes by Method in Python

Groups mock API routes by path and method, collecting response bodies and counts into a nested dictionary structure.

defaultdict api-gateway aggregation
Python
from collections import defaultdict


def aggregate_mock_routes(routes):
    """Aggregate mock API routes by method and aggregate their response bodies."""
    aggregated = defaultdict(lambda: defaultdict(list))

    for route in routes:
        method = route["method"]
        path = route["path"]
        response = …
13 0 Open
System design patterns easy

How to Implement a Factory Method by Type String in Python

A factory method maps a type string to a class, creating and returning the appropriate object instance while handling unknown types gracefully.

factory-pattern design-patterns oop
Python
class Animal:
    def speak(self):
        raise NotImplementedError


class Dog(Animal):
    def speak(self):
        return "Woof!"


class Cat(Animal):
    def speak(self):
        return "Meow!"


class AnimalFactory:
    @staticmethod
    def create(animal_type: str) -> Animal:
        animal_types = {
          …
14 0 Open
System design patterns easy

How to Mock a Metrics Decorator in Python with unittest.mock

This code demonstrates a timing decorator that wraps a function to measure execution time and prints the duration, with a unit test using unittest.mock to patch the print function and assert it was called.

decorators unittest.mock metrics
Python
import time
from functools import wraps
from unittest.mock import patch

def add_metrics(func):
    @wraps(func)
    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
        start = time.perf_counter()
        result = func(*args, **kwargs)
        elapsed = time.perf_counter() - start
        print(f"{func.__name__} took {elapsed:.6f}s…
15 0 Open
System design patterns easy

How to Take Periodic Snapshots of Aggregate State in Python

Build a Python class that accumulates values and periodically captures immutable snapshots of total, count, and average for later analysis.

aggregation snapshots state-management
Python
import time
import random
from collections import defaultdict


class SnapshotAggregator:
    def __init__(self):
        self.total = 0
        self.count = 0
        self.history = []

    def add(self, value):
        self.total += value
        self.count += 1

    def snapshot(self):
        avg = self.total / se…
13 0 Open
API design & gRPC easy

How to Mock a GraphQL Query Type in Python

Create a lightweight mock of a GraphQL Query type to simulate repository lookups without a server.

graphql mock resolver
Python
import json

class Query:
    def __init__(self):
        self.starred_repos = [
            {"id": 1, "name": "graphql", "owner": "graphql"}
        ]

    def repository(self, name):
        if name == "graphql":
            return {"id": 1, "name": "graphql", "stargazerCount": 85000}
        return None


if __name…
14 0 Open
API design & gRPC easy

How to Serialize a Dataclass to JSON in Python

Serialize a Python dataclass instance to JSON using asdict and json.dumps for API responses or mocks.

dataclass json serialization
Python
from dataclasses import dataclass, asdict
import json


@dataclass
class UserResponse:
    id: int
    name: str
    email: str
    active: bool = True


if __name__ == "__main__":
    response = UserResponse(id=42, name="Ada Lovelace", email="ada@example.com")
    print(json.dumps(asdict(response), indent=2))
13 0 Open
Streaming & messaging easy

Build a Streaming Messaging Helper in Python

Create a simple message stream class that stores recent messages, sends user messages, and retrieves history or latest messages with timestamps.

streaming deque dataclass
Python
from collections import deque
from dataclasses import dataclass
from datetime import datetime
import time


@dataclass
class Message:
    user: str
    text: str
    timestamp: str = ""

    def __post_init__(self):
        if not self.timestamp:
            self.timestamp = datetime.now().strftime("%H:%M:%S")


class…
14 0 Open
Streaming & messaging easy

Dedupe processed message IDs in Python

Filters an inbox of messages by removing items whose IDs have already been processed, using a set for fast lookups.

deduplication streaming json
Python
from pathlib import Path
import json


def dedupe_processed_ids(inbox_file: Path, processed_file: Path) -> list:
    processed = set(json.loads(processed_file.read_text()))
    inbox = json.loads(inbox_file.read_text())
    deduped = [item for item in inbox if item["id"] not in processed]
    return deduped


if __nam…
14 0 Open

Browse by section

Each section groups closely related Python snippets.

Guide: free Python code samples library

Copy-ready Python snippets for learners and developers

PythonSkillset code samples are short, focused examples organised by topic and difficulty. Every snippet is server-rendered HTML — readable by search engines and easy to copy. Open any sample, read the notes, copy the code, then press Try in editor to run it in the browser with Pyodide.

How to use this library

  1. Pick a topic section — strings, lists, files, functions, and more
  2. Open a sample, read How it works, and copy the code block
  3. Run it in the IDE, tweak values, then take a related quiz or tutorial lesson

Samples vs tutorials and challenges

Samples are quick reference — one concept per page. For step-by-step teaching, use our Python tutorials. To test yourself, try quizzes or coding challenges. Clean up style with the Python formatter.