2025-10-31 –, Auditorium
Python seems like a perfect first language to learn. It’s readable. It’s almost English. There are things that you learn to appreciate and cherish.
And there are other things that make you a little bit annoyed… Or sometimes cry out loud.
Let’s discuss!
Python and I have been in a long-term relationship. Some days it feels like poetry: readable, elegant, expressive. Other days it makes me want to scream into the void. Over the years, I’ve collected a very personal list of things I absolutely love about Python, and things I really wish it did differently.
In this 30-minute talk, I’ll share those experiences through the lens of someone who has also worked with C++, Java, and Typescript. We’ll go back and forth between features that make Python a joy (like list comprehensions, dataclasses, decorators, and NumPy) and quirks that drive me mad (like async, mutable default arguments, or the endless “self” in classes).
The structure will look like this:
Introduction (3 min): Who I am, my background with different languages, and how Python became my daily companion.
The Love/Hate Cycle (20 min): A series of 12–14 features, alternating between “love” and “hate.” For each one I’ll share:
What the feature looks like in Python.
A quick example from real projects.
A comparison with how another language handles it.
Why it delights—or frustrates—me.
Reflection (5 min): Why, despite all the ups and downs, Python is still my go-to language.
Q&A and Stories (2 min): I’ll invite the audience to share their own Python love/hate stories—because I know I’m not alone.
This is not a technical deep-dive—it’s a fun, opinionated, and honest look at Python from the perspective of someone who’s used it in production for years. Attendees will leave with a mix of laughs, relatable frustrations, and maybe a renewed appreciation for Python’s quirks.
Ava Katushka is a software engineer and artist who blends creativity with code. By day, she builds backend systems and tinkers with frontend projects at Bloomberg; by night, she creates watercolor art, postcards, and quirky illustrations. Ava’s unique note-taking style combines doodles, symbols, and words to make conference learning stick — and she’s on a mission to help others turn their notes into visual stories worth remembering. You can see some of her art notes on Europython here.