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Copy-ready Python snippets by topic and difficulty — short, focused, and runnable in the browser editor.
Compound interest calculator in Python
Compute future investment value with the compound interest formula and a readable year-by-year loop.
def future_value(
principal: float,
annual_rate: float,
years: int,
compounds_per_year: int = 12,
) -> float:
"""Return balance after compound interest (rounded to cents)."""
rate_per_period = annual_rate / compounds_per_year
periods = compounds_per_year * years
amount = principal * (1 …How to Load Pickle Files Safely in Python
This code demonstrates how to load pickle files safely in Python by using a restricted unpickler that only allows specific, trusted classes, preventing arbitrary code execution from untrusted pickles.
import pickle
# Default pickle.load is unsafe: it executes arbitrary code when unpickling.
class Unsafe:
def __reduce__(self):
return (eval, ("open('/tmp/pickle_demo.txt', 'w').write('pwned')",))
# Create a malicious payload (simulating untrusted source)
malicious_data = pickle.dumps(Unsafe())
# Safe ap…How to Use __getstate__ and __setstate__ for Pickle in Python
Customize Python object serialization with the pickle __getstate__ and __setstate__ hooks to control exactly what data is stored and how it is restored.
import pickle
class Temperature:
def __init__(self, celsius):
self.celsius = celsius
def __getstate__(self):
"""Customize what gets pickled."""
state = self.__dict__.copy()
# Convert to Fahrenheit for storage (simulate transformation)
state['fahrenheit'] = (self.celsiu…Memento Pattern in Python: Save and Restore Object State
Implement the Memento design pattern to snapshot and restore an object's state, demonstrated with a text editor undo feature.
class TextEditor:
def __init__(self, text="", cursor_pos=0):
self.text = text
self.cursor_pos = cursor_pos
def type_text(self, new_text):
self.text += new_text
self.cursor_pos += len(new_text)
def move_cursor(self, pos):
self.cursor_pos = max(0, min(pos, len(self.t…Drop Elements From Start While Condition Is True in Python
This generator function drops elements from the beginning of an iterable while a predicate returns true, then yields the rest.
def drop_while(predicate, iterable):
"""Drop elements from the start while predicate is true."""
it = iter(iterable)
for item in it:
if not predicate(item):
yield item
break
yield from it
if __name__ == "__main__":
numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 5]
result = list(d…Find k Closest Points to Origin in Python
Sorts a list of (x, y) point tuples by their Euclidean distance from the origin and returns the k nearest points.
import math
def k_closest(points, k):
points.sort(key=lambda p: math.sqrt(p[0]**2 + p[1]**2))
return points[:k]
if __name__ == "__main__":
points = [(1, 2), (3, 4), (-1, 0), (5, 5), (0, 1)]
k = 3
result = k_closest(points, k)
print(f"Original points: {points}")
print(f"K closest points (k…How to Find the Nearest Value to a Target in a Sorted List in Python
Use bisect to binary-search a sorted list and return the element closest to a target value.
import bisect
def nearest_value(sorted_list, target):
if not sorted_list:
return None
pos = bisect.bisect_left(sorted_list, target)
if pos == 0:
return sorted_list[0]
if pos == len(sorted_list):
return sorted_list[-1]
before = sorted_list[pos - 1]
after = sorted_list[po…How to Find the Previous Smaller Element in Python
Use a monotonic stack to find the nearest smaller element to the left of each item in a list, returning -1 when none exists.
from collections import deque
def previous_smaller_elements(arr):
stack = deque()
result = [-1] * len(arr)
for i in range(len(arr)):
while stack and arr[stack[-1]] >= arr[i]:
stack.pop()
if stack:
result[i] = arr[stack[-1]]
stack.append(i)
return resul…Drop n items then yield rest generator
A generator that skips the first n items of an iterable and then yields the remaining items one by one.
def drop(n, items):
"""Yield every item except the first n from items."""
it = iter(items)
for _ in range(n):
next(it, None) # skip first n items
yield from it
if __name__ == "__main__":
numbers = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50]
result = list(drop(2, numbers))
print(result)How to skip items until a condition is met in Python
Use itertools.dropwhile to skip leading elements while a predicate returns true, then yield the rest of the sequence unchanged.
def is_negative(x):
return x < 0
numbers = [-3, -1, 0, 5, 2, -8, 7]
result = list(itertools.dropwhile(is_negative, numbers))
print(f"Original: {numbers}")
print(f"After dropwhile: {result}")How to Build an In-Memory Vector Store in Python
Build a lightweight in-memory vector store using a Python dict and cosine similarity for fast nearest-neighbor searches.
import math
from typing import Dict, List, Optional
class InMemoryVectorStore:
def __init__(self) -> None:
self.vectors: Dict[str, List[float]] = {}
self.index: Dict[str, List[str]] = {} # query -> list of ids sorted by similarity
def add(self, vector_id: str, vector: List[float]) -> None:
…Generate Strong SSH Keys and Save Them Securely with Python
Generate a 4096-bit RSA SSH key pair using Python's cryptography library and save both private and public keys with restricted file permissions.
import os
import stat
from pathlib import Path
from cryptography.hazmat.primitives import serialization
from cryptography.hazmat.primitives.asymmetric import rsa
from cryptography.hazmat.backends import default_backend
def generate_ssh_keypair(key_path: str = "id_rsa", passphrase: str = None):
"""Generate a 4096-…Mock systemctl Wrapper in Python for Service Testing
A Python class-based mock of systemctl that simulates start, stop, restart, and status operations for a service, useful for testing automation scripts.
import subprocess
import sys
class ServiceManager:
def __init__(self, service_name):
self.service_name = service_name
self.status = "inactive"
def start(self):
self.status = "active"
print(f"Starting {self.service_name}... OK")
def stop(self):
self.status …Restore sqlite from latest backup file in Python
This script finds the most recently modified backup file in a directory and restores it to the main database path, then verifies the restored data.
import sqlite3
import glob
import os
import shutil
def restore_latest_backup(db_path, backup_dir):
backups = sorted(glob.glob(os.path.join(backup_dir, "*.db")), key=os.path.getmtime)
if not backups:
raise FileNotFoundError("No backup files found")
latest = backups[-1]
shutil.copy2(latest, db_p…Restrict Secrets File Permissions with the chmod Script in Python
This script restricts a secrets file to 0600 permissions, rotates it to a dated backup, and creates a fresh protected file for secure automation workflows.
import os
import sys
import stat
from pathlib import Path
def restrict_secrets_file(filepath: str) -> None:
"""Set restrictive permissions (0600) on a secrets file."""
path = Path(filepath).expanduser()
if not path.is_file():
raise FileNotFoundError(f"Secrets file not found: {path}")
…Build a URL Shortener Client with Python
A Python class that shortens long URLs and resolves short codes using a REST API built with requests.
import json
import sys
import requests
class URLShortenerClient:
def __init__(self, base_url="http://tinyurl.com"):
self.base_url = base_url
def shorten_url(self, long_url):
payload = {"url": long_url}
headers = {"Content-Type": "application/json"}
response = requests.post(f"{…How to Mock RDS Snapshot Create and Restore in Python
Mock AWS RDS snapshot creation and restore operations in Python tests using moto and boto3 without hitting real AWS services.
import boto3
from moto import mock_rds
@mock_rds
def create_and_restore_snapshot():
client = boto3.client("rds", region_name="us-east-1")
client.create_db_instance(
DBInstanceIdentifier="my-db",
DBInstanceClass="db.t3.micro",
Engine="postgres",
AllocatedStorage=20,
Mas…How to Use Literal Type Hints in Python
Use typing.Literal to restrict a function parameter to specific allowed string values and get static type checking.
from typing import Literal
def get_status_message(status: Literal["active", "inactive", "pending"]) -> str:
"""Return a message based on the status value."""
if status == "active":
return "Account is active"
elif status == "inactive":
return "Account is inactive"
else:
return "…Idempotent Consumer: Store Processed IDs in Python
Implement an idempotent consumer that persists processed message IDs to a JSON file, skipping duplicates on restart.
import json
from pathlib import Path
class IdempotentStore:
def __init__(self, storage_path: str = "processed_ids.json"):
self.storage_path = Path(storage_path)
self.processed_ids = self._load()
def _load(self) -> set:
if self.storage_path.exists():
with self.storage_path…Build a Bulk Array POST Mock Server in Python
Creates an HTTP mock server that accepts POST requests with a JSON array and returns incremental IDs for each item.
import json
from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, HTTPServer
from urllib.parse import urlparse
class MockHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
def do_POST(self):
if urlparse(self.path).path != "/bulk":
self.send_response(404)
self.end_headers()
return
cont…Build a Mock REST API with PUT and GET in Python
A minimal mock REST server implementing idempotent PUT for resource replacement and GET for retrieval, built with Python's http.server module.
from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, HTTPServer
import json
from urllib.parse import urlparse
mock_db = {}
class MockAPIHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
def do_PUT(self):
parsed = urlparse(self.path)
resource_id = parsed.path.strip("/").split("/")[-1]
content_length = int(self.…How to Add HATEOAS Links to a Python API Response
Build a Python API resource class that adds self and next HATEOAS links to JSON responses, with a mock example for pagination.
import json
class Resource:
def __init__(self, name, data, next_page=None):
self.links = {"self": f"/api/resources/{name}"}
if next_page is not None:
self.links["next"] = f"/api/resources?page={next_page}"
self.data = data
def to_dict(self):
return {"links": self.…How to Build Cursor Pagination with Next and Prev Tokens in Python
A minimal cursor pagination implementation that returns next and previous cursor tokens for navigating a dataset.
from pprint import pprint
def make_cursor(page):
return f"page:{page:04d}"
def parse_cursor(cursor):
_, page = cursor.split(":", 1)
return int(page)
def paginate(all_items, page_size, cursor=None):
start = parse_cursor(cursor) if cursor else 0
end = start + page_size
items = all_items[sta…How to Build a Hypermedia Collection Resource in Python
Creates a paginated hypermedia collection resource with HATEOAS links and embedded items.
import json
import math
class HypermediaCollection:
"""A mock hypermedia collection resource."""
def __init__(self, items, base_url="/api/items"):
self.items = items
self.base_url = base_url
def to_dict(self, page=1, per_page=3):
total = len(self.items)
pages = math.ceil…Browse by section
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Guide: free Python code samples library
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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.