Python Code
Samples
Medium snippets you can copy, study, and run in the browser editor.
How to Build a Subcommand Parser Tree with argparse in Python
Create a CLI with nested subcommands (like git) using argparse subparsers, where each subcommand maps to its own handler function.
import argparse
def cmd_add(args):
print(f"Adding {args.num1} + {args.num2} = {args.num1 + args.num2}")
def cmd_sub(args):
print(f"Subtracting {args.num1} - {args.num2} = {args.num1 - args.num2}")
def main():
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog="calculator")
subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(d…
Track GitHub Repository Growth in Python
A Python dashboard that fetches and displays GitHub repository statistics including stars, forks, creation date, and recent star activity using the GitHub API.
import requests
import json
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
def track_repo_growth(owner, repo):
url = f"https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}"
headers = {"Accept": "application/vnd.github.v3+json"}
response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
data = response.json()
name = data…
Automatically Download the Latest Software Release from GitHub with Python
Use the GitHub API to fetch the latest release metadata and download the first asset (binary or archive) to a local directory.
import requests
import sys
from pathlib import Path
def download_latest_release(owner: str, repo: str, output_dir: str = ".") -> None:
"""Download the latest release asset from a GitHub repository."""
url = f"https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases/latest"
response = requests.get(url)
res…
How to Build a Python Tool That Finds Trending Open Source Projects Daily
A Python script that queries the GitHub Search API to fetch the top 5 trending repositories created in the last day, sorted by stars, with optional language filtering.
import requests
import json
import datetime
def fetch_trending_projects(language: str = "", since: str = "daily"):
url = "https://api.github.com/search/repositories"
date_limit = (datetime.date.today() - datetime.timedelta(days=1)).isoformat()
query = f"created:>{date_limit} language:{language}" if langua…
How to Compare Two GitHub Repositories and Highlight Differences in Python
Fetch metadata from two GitHub repositories using the GitHub API and compare key attributes like stars, forks, license, and language, printing any differences.
import requests
import json
from pathlib import Path
def fetch_repo_data(owner, repo_name):
"""Fetch repository metadata from GitHub API."""
url = f"https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo_name}"
response = requests.get(url)
response.raise_for_status()
return response.json()
def compare_repos(…
How to Download All Assets from GitHub Releases in Python
Downloads every asset attached to the latest GitHub release of a repository, saving them locally using the GitHub API and Python's requests and pathlib libraries.
import requests
import os
import zipfile
from pathlib import Path
def download_github_release_assets(owner: str, repo: str, output_dir: str = "release_assets") -> None:
"""Downloads all assets from the latest release of a GitHub repository."""
releases_url = f"https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}/relea…
How to Download a GitHub Repository as a ZIP File in Python
Download any public GitHub repository as a ZIP file using the GitHub API and Python's requests and zipfile modules.
import requests
import zipfile
import io
import os
def download_github_repo_as_zip(repo_url, output_path='.'):
"""
Download a GitHub repository as a ZIP file.
Args:
repo_url (str): Full GitHub repository URL (e.g., 'https://github.com/username/repo')
output_path (str): Directory to sa…
How to Track GitHub Stars, Forks, and Watchers in Python
Automatically fetch and track stars, forks, and watchers for multiple GitHub repositories, saving snapshots locally as JSON files for historical analysis.
import os
import time
import json
import requests
from pathlib import Path
from datetime import datetime
REPOS = [
"psf/requests",
"python/cpython",
"pallets/flask",
]
DATA_DIR = Path("github_metrics")
def fetch_repo_stats(repo):
url = f"https://api.github.com/repos/{repo}"
resp = requests.get(ur…
Find the Commit That Introduced a String in Git History Using Python
Use git log -S with Python subprocess to find the earliest commit that introduced a specific string across your repository history.
import subprocess
import sys
def find_introducing_commit(repo_path: str, search_string: str, file_glob: str = "*") -> str:
"""Find the first commit that introduced a given string in a git repository."""
result = subprocess.run(
["git", "-C", repo_path, "log", "--all", "--oneline", "-S", search_string…
Generate CHANGELOG from Conventional Commits in Python
Parse your git log for conventional commits (feat, fix) and produce a simple Markdown CHANGELOG with grouped features and bug fixes.
import subprocess
import re
import sys
from collections import OrderedDict
CONVENTIONAL_COMMIT = re.compile(
r"^(?P<type>feat|fix|chore|docs|refactor|perf|test|build|ci|style)(?:\((?P<scope>[^)]+)\))?: (?P<description>.+)"
)
def get_git_log():
return subprocess.run(
["git", "log", "--format=%s"],
…
Generate Release Notes Markdown from PR Titles in Python
Generate structured Markdown release notes from a list of pull request titles using conventional commit types.
import json
from datetime import datetime, timezone
PRS = [
{"title": "feat: add user login", "number": 12, "merged_at": "2025-01-10"},
{"title": "fix: resolve payment timeout", "number": 13, "merged_at": "2025-01-11"},
{"title": "chore: bump dependencies", "number": 14, "merged_at": "2025-01-12"},
{"…
How to Archive a Repository as a ZIP in Python
Create a ZIP archive of a repository directory with a mock export, skipping hidden files and __pycache__ folders.
import zipfile
import io
import os
from pathlib import Path
def archive_repo_mock(repo_path, output_path="repo_archive.zip"):
"""Create a zip archive of a repository directory (mock export)."""
repo = Path(repo_path)
if not repo.exists():
raise FileNotFoundError(f"Repository not found: {repo}")
…
How to Build a Branch Protection Audit Mock API in Python
A mock HTTP API that serves branch protection rules for repositories and audits them for compliance, built with Python's standard library.
import json
from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, HTTPServer
from urllib.parse import urlparse, parse_qs
REPOSITORIES = {
"alpha": {
"default_branch": "main",
"branches": ["main", "develop", "feature-x"],
"protection_rules": {
"main": {"required_reviews": 2, "dismiss_…
How to Format Git Patch Series as an MBOX File in Python
Generate a patch-series mbox file from commit metadata with numbered [PATCH nnn/nnn] subjects and a Git-style footer.
import re
from pathlib import Path
def format_patch_series_mbox(commits, output_path="series.mbox"):
entries = []
for idx, commit in enumerate(commits, start=1):
subject = commit["subject"]
author = commit["author"]
email = commit["email"]
date = commit["date"]
body = …
How to Generate Release Notes from Git Commit Messages in Python
This script fetches recent Git commit messages using conventional commit prefixes (feat, fix, etc.), categorizes them, and prints formatted release notes with today's date.
import subprocess
import re
from datetime import datetime
def get_git_log(since_tag="HEAD~10", format_str="%s"):
"""Retrieve commit messages from git log."""
try:
result = subprocess.run(
["git", "log", f"--since={since_tag}", f"--format={format_str}"],
capture_output=True,
…
How to Get Current Git Branch Name in Python with Mock Subprocess
Mocks the subprocess call to reliably test the current git branch name retrieval using GitPython.
import subprocess
from unittest.mock import patch, MagicMock
from git import Repo
import os
def get_current_branch(repo_path="."):
"""Get the current branch name of a git repository."""
repo = Repo(repo_path)
return repo.active_branch.name
if __name__ == "__main__":
# Mock subprocess to control the…
How to Make a Git Commit Heatmap by Hour in Python
Parse a git log output and count commits by weekday and hour, then print a compact heatmap table.
import re
from collections import Counter
from datetime import datetime
def parse_commits(log_text):
"""Parse git log lines and count commits by (weekday, hour)."""
pattern = re.compile(r"^Date:\s+(.+)$")
counts = Counter()
for line in log_text.splitlines():
match = pattern.match(line)
…
How to Mock Git Cherry-Pick in Python for Tests
Mock the `repo.git.cherry_pick` method with `unittest.mock` to test a Git cherry-pick helper without a real repository.
from unittest.mock import patch, MagicMock
class GitCherryPicker:
def __init__(self):
self.applied_commits = []
def cherry_pick(self, commit_hash, repo):
try:
result = repo.git.cherry_pick(commit_hash)
self.applied_commits.append(commit_hash)
return f"A…
How to Mock Git Pre-commit Hooks (black and ruff) in Python
Mock subprocess to test black and ruff pre-commit commands without actually running them, verifying exit codes.
import sys
import subprocess
from unittest.mock import patch
def run_hook(command: list[str]) -> int:
with patch("subprocess.run") as mock_run:
mock_run.return_value.returncode = 0
mock_run.return_value.stdout = f"Mocked: {' '.join(command)}"
result = subprocess.run(command, capture_output…
How to Mock Git Stash and Pop in Python
Mock Git stash, apply, and pop operations using unittest.mock so you can test Git automation without touching a real repository.
import git
from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
def stash_and_pop(repo):
"""Mock a stash operation and then pop it back."""
repo.git.stash("save", "WIP: temp changes")
stashed_output = repo.git.stash("list")
# Simulate the stash was applied, then pop
repo.git.stash("apply", "stash@{0}")
…
How to Mock open() in Python Using unittest.mock.patch
This code shows how to use unittest.mock.patch with mock_open to test a function that checks if a Git patch can be reverse-applied by reading file content.
import unittest
from unittest.mock import patch, mock_open
def apply_reverse_check(file_path, expected_patch):
"""
Check if a patch can be reverse-applied by comparing file content
with the expected patch's reverse result.
"""
try:
with open(file_path, "r") as f:
content = f.r…
How to generate and parse an interactive rebase TODO list in Python
Generate a Git interactive rebase TODO list from commit data and parse it back into structured records.
import re
from collections import namedtuple
Commit = namedtuple("Commit", ["hash", "subject"])
def generate_rebase_todo(commits, action="pick"):
todo_lines = []
for i, commit in enumerate(commits):
if i == 0 and action == "reword":
todo_lines.append(f"reword {commit.hash} {commit.subject…
Show Blame Line Author with subprocess in Python
This Python script runs git blame --line-porcelain via subprocess and counts how many lines each author owns in a file.
import subprocess
from collections import Counter
def get_blame_authors(file_path):
"""Extract author names from git blame output using subprocess."""
result = subprocess.run(
["git", "blame", "--line-porcelain", file_path],
capture_output=True,
text=True,
check=True,
)
…
How to Build a GitOps Argo CD Sync Mock in Python
Simulate Argo CD-style GitOps deployment sync with Python dataclasses, random success rates, and force-sync retry logic.
import random
import time
from dataclasses import dataclass, field
from typing import List, Dict
@dataclass
class Application:
name: str
source_repo: str
target_revision: str
synced: bool = False
health_status: str = "Healthy"
history: List[Dict] = field(default_factory=list)
def sync(se…
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
- Pick a topic section — strings, lists, files, functions, and more
- Open a sample, read How it works, and copy the code block
- 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.