Tag: Python

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Using Python To Quickly Open Multiple Websites In Your Browser

Generated with AI ∙ January 18, 2024 at 1:10 p.m.

I had a problem where I was opening about a dozen bookmarks at the same time in Brave, and in doing so, it was giving me a “503 Service Temporarily Unavailable” error.

To fix this, I turned to Copilot Pro with this prompt:

Write a Python program that opens in my web browser (using Django?) that has a list of URLs that it opens in new tabs with a pause of 0.5 seconds between them. For the initial URLs, use Google and Microsoft.

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How to Save Python Files in the Same Directory in VS Code (Update)

In a recent post I gave a programmatic solution to how to get Python to write files in the same folder as the Python file itself when working in VS Code. By default, Python programs in VS Code write files in the root folder of the project, not in the folder where the Python file is saved.

My solution involved the use of a built-in variable named “__file__“, which together with some fancy path concatenation, achieved what I was hoping for.

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How to Save Python Files in the Same Directory in VS Code

Introduction

Have you ever been frustrated because your Python programs in VS Code always save in the root folder of your GitHub project, even if the program is in a subfolder? You’re not alone. I’ve encountered this problem too, and I couldn’t find a solution within VS Code’s settings.

Solution

The solution is within Python itself.

Python has a built-in variable called __file__ that refers to the path of the current Python file. By using this with os.path.join(), you can ensure that your file will be saved in the same directory as your program, not in the root folder.

The os.path.join() function in Python is a smart way to stick together pieces of a file path. It knows how to correctly use the right kind of slash (/ or \) depending on your computer’s operating system. So, if you have a folder named “folder” and a file named “file.txt”, os.path.join("folder", "file.txt") will give you the correct full path: “folder/file.txt”. It’s a handy tool for dealing with file paths in Python.

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Quick Encryption/Decryption Utility

lock on keyboard

Need a quick program to encrypt or decrypt small amounts of text, such as passwords? Here’s a quick utility I wrote in Python using Google Colab, Google’s implementation of Jupyter Notebooks. You can run the program there or copy it to your own Google Drive first. Note that you’ll need a Google account to access it.

https://bit.ly/beens-encrypt

I personally use this utility to encrypt sensitive information in Google Keep, as shown in the screenshot below. I save the URL of the utility with the encrypted text so I can decrypt it quickly.

(For longer notes, I’d honestly recommend a proper password manager that can encrypt notes. I use the Premium version of Bitwarden, which I highly recommend.)

The instructions in the program should be adequate to run it on your own.

Bookmark it in your browser for quick access! (Ctrl-D on your PC or Command-D on your Mac)

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Python f-strings: Use of “=” (very cool!)

In Python f-strings, the equal sign (=) is used to print both the variable name and its value in a string. It is used to facilitate print-debugging by expanding to the text of the expression, an equal sign, then the representation of the evaluated expression. For example, if you have a variable named x with a value of 5, you can use an f-string like this: f'{x=}' which will expand to 'x=5'⁷.

Try it out here!

Source: Conversation with Bing, 3/30/2023

(1) python – What does = (equal) do in f-strings inside the expression …. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/59661904/what-does-equal-do-in-f-strings-inside-the-expression-curly-brackets Accessed 3/30/2023.

(2) Python f-String Tutorial – String Formatting in Python Explained with …. https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/python-f-strings-tutorial-how-to-use-f-strings-for-string-formatting/ Accessed 3/30/2023.

(3) Python f-strings: Everything you need to know! • datagy. https://datagy.io/python-f-strings/ Accessed 3/30/2023.

(4) Python 3’s f-Strings: An Improved String Formatting Syntax (Guide). https://realpython.com/python-f-strings/ Accessed 3/30/2023.

(5) PEP 498 – Literal String Interpolation | peps.python.org. https://peps.python.org/pep-0498/ Accessed 3/30/2023.

(6) Modulo String Formatting in Python – Real Python. https://realpython.com/python-modulo-string-formatting/ Accessed 3/30/2023.

(7) f-strings in Python – GeeksforGeeks. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/formatted-string-literals-f-strings-python/ Accessed 3/30/2023.

(8) What does ‘f’ mean before a string in Python? – Stack Overflow. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/58233423/what-does-f-mean-before-a-string-in-python Accessed 3/30/2023.

This post was inspired by this tweet:

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Hey Bing Chat: How can I compile a Python program into an executable file?

Bing Chat is an AI alternative to Chat-GPT. I’ve been testing it quite a bit since, at least for now, it is completely free and in most cases does an excellent job.

Here is a test case that worked perfectly for me…

Prompt: How can I compile a Python program into an executable file?

There are several ways to compile Python code into an executable file. One of the most popular ways is to use PyInstaller² which can be installed using pip package manager². Once installed, you can use it to create an executable file by running the following command in your terminal:

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