Hagerty

How to code a custom LED light show using Raspberry PiPhoto by Thalia Ruiz on UnsplashThe holiday season has officially kicked off, which means plenty of shopping, baking, and of course decorating. Home improvement stores stock dozens and dozens of lights all with different shapes, colors, and special effects. But have you ever wanted to create your own holiday lights with custom colors and motions? A few simple lines of Python make that possible.Image by author. See Results section for full demo.This is my first…

Essential functions for any rookie who wants to level-up their codePhoto by Charlotte Karlsen on UnsplashWhen I first started coding in Python, I focused on executing. I wasn’t concerned about efficiency or clean code. If it worked, I was satisfied. As a result, I became over-dependent on workarounds instead of learning best practices.Many of these best practices are found in the Python documentation. Thanks to the documentation, I discovered built-in functions which solve many problems I had previously deemed as…

A deep-dive into the secretive coding challenge problemsPhoto by Pawel Czerwinski on UnsplashLevel 2 consisted of two problems. In terms of difficulty, I found both to be similar to Leetcode Easy problems. Like Level 1, these problems required a solid understanding of built-in data types and their methods.If you are unfamiliar with the Foobar Challenge, I recommend reading my previous article, which provides an overview and a break-down of the Level 1 problem.Warning — Spoilers Ahead ⛔️Below, I breakdown the questions and…

An intro to the secretive coding challenge and a breakdown of the problemsPhoto by Mitchell Luo on UnsplashThe Foobar Challenge is a coding challenge hosted by Google that can be completed in either Python or Java. I completed the challenge using Python. The challenge has its own server with specific, terminal-style commands.Image by author.To add some fun, it’s space themed. The evil Commander Lambda has kidnapped space bunnies and you must rescue them. Each problem adds more context to the backstory. The problems are of…

Understanding when and where each container is appropriatePhoto by Heather McKean on UnsplashToo often, beginners choose the familiar over the optimal.Most Python courses introduce students to container data types by starting with lists. Naturally, beginners become comfortable with them. When starting out, you focus on moving fast and tackling the next topic in order to learn as much as possible while the motivation lasts. As a result, you develop habits that work, but are not always best practice. This is especially true…

How to fix small mistakes which can lead to major headachesPhoto by Glenn Carstens-Peters on UnsplashOf all the coding languages, Python is probably the most beginner-friendly. It’s intuitive, well-documented, and easy to learn. However, all languages have quirks, which can be difficult to spot especially as a beginner. They won’t produce errors or terminate the run. Rather, they blend right in with the other code.Many data science projects use lists as way to store ordered data. However, failure to use them correctly…

Mike Hagerty, who featured in `Friends` as one of the character actors, is no more. As per Variety, Mike passed away on Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 67. The unfortunate news was shared by Bridget Everett, who played Mike`s on-screen daughter in `Somebody Somewhere`, via her Instagram on Friday. "With great sadness, the family of Michael G. Hagerty announced his death yesterday in Los Angeles. A beloved character actor, his love of his hometown of Chicago and his family were the cornerstones of his life. Mike, a…