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Python Code Samples

Copy-ready Python snippets by topic and difficulty — short, focused, and runnable in the browser editor.

61 matches
Functions & basics easy

Cache expensive function with lru_cache in Python

Use functools.lru_cache to memoize an expensive recursive function and show the dramatic speedup on repeated calls.

lru_cache caching decorators
Python
from functools import lru_cache
import time


@lru_cache(maxsize=128)
def expensive_operation(n):
    """Simulate an expensive Fibonacci-like calculation."""
    if n < 2:
        return n
    return expensive_operation(n - 1) + expensive_operation(n - 2)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    # First call (uncached) - take…
15 0 Open
Functions & basics easy

How to Implement Memoized Fibonacci in Python with functools.cache

Use functools.cache to memoize a recursive Fibonacci function, avoiding repeated computation and dramatically speeding up the calculation.

fibonacci memoization functools
Python
from functools import cache

@cache
def fibonacci(n: int) -> int:
    """Return the n-th Fibonacci number (0-indexed)."""
    if n < 2:
        return n
    return fibonacci(n - 1) + fibonacci(n - 2)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    for i in range(10):
        print(f"fibonacci({i}) = {fibonacci(i)}")
    print(f"Cache…
13 0 Open
Functions & basics medium

How to Invalidate Cache When Arguments Change in Python

A memoization decorator that caches function results keyed by arguments, automatically invalidating when inputs change.

decorators caching memoization
Python
from functools import wraps

def memoize(func):
    cache = {}
    
    @wraps(func)
    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
        key = (args, tuple(sorted(kwargs.items())))
        if key not in cache:
            cache[key] = func(*args, **kwargs)
        return cache[key]
    
    return wrapper

@memoize
def expensiv…
14 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets medium

How to Build a TTL Cache Dict in Python

Create a dictionary subclass that automatically expires keys after a fixed time-to-live using timestamps.

dictionary cache ttl
Python
import time

class TTLDict(dict):
    def __init__(self, ttl, *args, **kwargs):
        self.ttl = ttl
        self._expires = {}
        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)

    def __setitem__(self, key, value):
        super().__setitem__(key, value)
        self._expires[key] = time.time() + self.ttl

    def __geti…
15 0 Open
Dictionaries & sets medium

LRU Cache with OrderedDict in Python

Implement an LRU cache using collections.OrderedDict to track insertion order and evict the least-recently-used item when capacity is exceeded.

lru-cache ordereddict caching
Python
from collections import OrderedDict

class LRUCache:
    def __init__(self, capacity):
        self.capacity = capacity
        self.cache = OrderedDict()

    def get(self, key):
        if key not in self.cache:
            return -1
        self.cache.move_to_end(key)
        return self.cache[key]

    def put(sel…
13 0 Open
AI & LLM integration patterns easy

Cache LLM Completions by Hashing the Prompt in Python

A simple in-memory cache that stores LLM completions keyed by a SHA-256 hash of the prompt to avoid recomputing identical requests.

llm caching hashing
Python
import hashlib
import json

class PromptCache:
    def __init__(self):
        self.cache = {}

    def _hash_prompt(self, prompt: str) -> str:
        return hashlib.sha256(prompt.encode("utf-8")).hexdigest()

    def get(self, prompt: str) -> str | None:
        key = self._hash_prompt(prompt)
        return self.ca…
14 0 Open
AI & LLM integration patterns easy

How to Build a Simple Semantic Cache for Similar Prompts in Python

Mock a semantic cache that finds the closest matching prompt using word-overlap similarity and returns cached results above a threshold.

semantic cache prompt matching llm
Python
prompt_cache = [
    "What is the capital of France?",
    "How does recursion work?",
    "Best practices for Python logging?",
    "Explain binary search in one line.",
    "How to reverse a string in Python?"
]

def normalize(text):
    return " ".join(text.lower().split())

def similarity(a, b):
    a_words = set(…
13 0 Open
AI & LLM integration patterns medium

How to cache embeddings with a Python dict to avoid recomputation

Caches embeddings computed from text in a dictionary keyed by SHA-256 hash, returning cached results for repeated calls.

embedding cache dict
Python
import hashlib
import time


class EmbeddingCache:
    def __init__(self):
        self.cache = {}

    def _hash_text(self, text):
        return hashlib.sha256(text.encode()).hexdigest()

    def get_embedding(self, text, compute_func):
        key = self._hash_text(text)
        if key not in self.cache:
          …
14 0 Open
Git + Python medium

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.

zipfile os.walk archiving
Python
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}")

…
12 0 Open
Concurrency & performance easy

How to Memoize Async Functions with lru_cache in Python

Cache async function results with functools.lru_cache to avoid repeated expensive awaits, cutting total execution from ~0.4s to ~0.2s in this example.

asyncio lru_cache memoization
Python
from functools import lru_cache
import asyncio

@lru_cache(maxsize=128)
async def fetch_data(user_id: int) -> str:
    # Simulate expensive async operation
    await asyncio.sleep(0.1)
    return f"Data for user {user_id}"

async def main():
    start = asyncio.get_event_loop().time()
    
    # First calls (miss cach…
12 0 Open
Concurrency & performance easy

How to Memoize Pure Functions with functools.lru_cache in Python

Use functools.lru_cache to memoize a pure Fibonacci function and avoid recomputing repeated values.

lru-cache memoization functools
Python
from functools import lru_cache


@lru_cache(maxsize=128)
def fibonacci(n: int) -> int:
    """Return the nth Fibonacci number (0-indexed) using memoization."""
    if n < 2:
        return n
    return fibonacci(n - 1) + fibonacci(n - 2)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    for i in range(10):
        print(f"fibonacci({…
14 0 Open
Concurrency & performance medium

How to Use a Weakref Cache to Avoid Memory Leaks in Python

This code demonstrates building a value cache with weakref.WeakValueDictionary so objects can be garbage collected when no longer referenced, preventing memory leaks.

weakref caching memory
Python
import weakref
import gc


class ExpensiveObject:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self.name = name

    def __repr__(self):
        return f"ExpensiveObject('{self.name}')"


class ObjectCache:
    def __init__(self):
        self._cache = weakref.WeakValueDictionary()

    def get_or_create(self, name):
       …
12 0 Open
Concurrency & performance easy

How to Use functools.cache for Unbounded Memoization in Python

Speed up repeated recursive calls by memoizing function results with Python's built-in functools.cache decorator.

functools memoization performance
Python
```python
import functools
import time


@functools.cache
def fib(n):
    if n < 2:
        return n
    return fib(n - 1) + fib(n - 2)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    start = time.perf_counter()
    result = fib(30)
    elapsed = time.perf_counter() - start

    print(f"fib(30) = {result}")
    print(f"computed in {…
13 0 Open
System design patterns medium

How to implement stale-while-revalidate caching in Python

A Python cache wrapper that returns a stale cached value with a fallback flag when the upstream fetch fails, using TTL-based freshness checks.

caching ttl resilience
Python
import time
from functools import lru_cache


class CachedService:
    def __init__(self, fetch_func, ttl=5):
        self.fetch_func = fetch_func
        self.ttl = ttl
        self._cache = {}
        self._timestamp = {}

    def get(self, key):
        now = time.time()
        if key in self._cache and now - self…
11 0 Open
System design patterns medium

Lazy loading with a proxy in Python: defer expensive service creation

A lazy proxy defers creating an expensive service object until its method is first called, then caches it for reuse.

proxy lazy-loading design-patterns
Python
import time
import random


class ExpensiveService:
    def __init__(self, name):
        self.name = name
        print(f"Creating expensive service: {self.name}")

    def fetch_data(self):
        time.sleep(1)
        return f"Data from {self.name}: {random.randint(1, 100)}"


class LazyProxy:
    def __init__(sel…
14 0 Open
API design & gRPC easy

How to Mock HTTP 304 Responses with If-None-Match in Python

Spin up a local HTTP server that returns a 304 Not Modified when a request carries a matching ETag, useful for testing cache behavior.

http caching mock-server
Python
from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, HTTPServer
from threading import Thread
import urllib.request

ETAG = '"abc123"'
BODY = b'{"status": "ok"}'

class MockServer(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
    def do_GET(self):
        if self.headers.get('If-None-Match') == ETAG:
            self.send_response(304)
        …
10 0 Open
Caching & Redis easy

Cache Asides in Python with a Read-Through Loader

Implements a cache-aside pattern with a read-through loader that fetches missing keys from a backing data store and caches them.

caching cache-aside read-through
Python
class DataStore:
    """Mock database with a few records."""
    def __init__(self):
        self.data = {1: "Alice", 2: "Bob", 3: "Charlie"}

    def get(self, key):
        print(f"Loading key {key} from database")
        return self.data.get(key)


class CacheAsideLoader:
    """Cache-aside pattern with a read-thr…
15 0 Open
Caching & Redis easy

Cache Data in Redis with Python

A beginner-friendly Redis cache helper that stores JSON strings with a TTL and retrieves them with the redis-py client.

redis cache ttl
Python
import redis


class DataCache:
    def __init__(self, host="localhost", port=6379, db=0):
        self.client = redis.Redis(host=host, port=port, db=db, decode_responses=True)

    def cache_data(self, key, value, ttl=60):
        self.client.setex(key, ttl, value)

    def get_cached_data(self, key):
        return …
14 0 Open
Caching & Redis medium

Cache Penetration Null Object Mock in Python

Implement a cache that stores a null marker on misses to prevent repeated database hits, reducing cache penetration.

caching null-object ttl
Python
import time
from collections import defaultdict
from typing import Any, Optional


class Cache:
    def __init__(self):
        self.store: dict[str, Any] = {}
        self.ttl: dict[str, float] = {}
        self.null_marker = object()

    def get(self, key: str, ttl: int = 60, fallback:
            Any = None) -> An…
16 0 Open
Caching & Redis medium

Cache Stampede Prevention with SingleFlight in Python

Implements a SingleFlight pattern in Python to deduplicate concurrent cache-miss computations and prevent cache stampede.

caching concurrency singleflight
Python
import threading
import time
from functools import wraps


class SingleFlight:
    def __init__(self):
        self._lock = threading.Lock()
        self._inflight = None

    def do(self, key, fn):
        with self._lock:
            if self._inflight is not None:
                return self._inflight[1]
           …
15 0 Open
Caching & Redis easy

Cache Warming with Python: Preload Hot Keys

Demonstrates a simple LRU-like cache with a warm method that preloads hot keys with mock values using OrderedDict.

caching ordereddict lru
Python
import time
from collections import OrderedDict

class CacheWarm:
    def __init__(self, capacity=3):
        self.capacity = capacity
        self.cache = OrderedDict()
        self.hot_keys = []

    def warm(self, keys):
        """Preload hot keys into cache with mock values."""
        for key in keys:
          …
17 0 Open
Caching & Redis medium

Consistent Hashing Cache Shard in Python

A minimal consistent hashing ring with virtual nodes that distributes cache keys across shards and minimizes re-mapping when a node is removed.

caching sharding consistent-hashing
Python
import hashlib
import bisect


class ConsistentHashRing:
    def __init__(self, nodes=None, replicas=3):
        self.replicas = replicas
        self.ring = {}
        self.sorted_keys = []
        if nodes:
            for node in nodes:
                self.add_node(node)

    def _hash(self, key):
        return i…
14 0 Open
Caching & Redis medium

How to Add TTL Jitter to Cache Expiration in Python

A Python decorator that adds random jitter to cache TTLs, staggering expiration times to prevent cache avalanche.

cache ttl jitter
Python
import random
import time
from functools import wraps

def add_jitter(ttl: float, jitter_range: float = 0.1) -> float:
    """Add random jitter (as % of TTL) to stagger cache expiration and prevent avalanche."""
    jitter = random.uniform(-jitter_range, jitter_range)
    return ttl * (1 + jitter)

def cache_with_jitt…
14 0 Open
Caching & Redis medium

How to Build a Bloom Filter to Reduce Cache Misses in Python

Implement a probabilistic Bloom filter in Python that lets a cache quickly determine which keys are definitely not present, reducing expensive source lookups on cache misses.

bloom-filter caching probabilistic
Python
import hashlib
import random

class BloomFilter:
    def __init__(self, size=100, num_hashes=3):
        self.size = size
        self.num_hashes = num_hashes
        self.bit_array = [0] * size

    def _hashes(self, item):
        result = []
        for i in range(self.num_hashes):
            hash_value = int(hash…
14 0 Open

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Guide: free Python code samples library

Copy-ready Python snippets for learners and developers

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How to use this library

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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.