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Hands-On Software Engineering with Python
Hands-On Software Engineering with Python

Hands-On Software Engineering with Python: Move beyond basic programming to design, maintain, and deploy extensible Python systems , Second Edition

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Profile Icon Brian Allbee
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€37.99
Paperback Dec 2025 628 pages 2nd Edition
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Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Brian Allbee
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€37.99
Paperback Dec 2025 628 pages 2nd Edition
eBook
€8.98 €29.99
Paperback
€37.99
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Free Trial
Renews at €18.99p/m
eBook
€8.98 €29.99
Paperback
€37.99
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Renews at €18.99p/m

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Hands-On Software Engineering with Python

Programming Versus Software Engineering Revisited

The dividing line between programming and software engineering falls somewhere within the differences between mid-level Software Engineers and Senior Software Engineers, as far as technical capabilities and expertise are concerned. In an Associate-level role, and sometimes in a mid-level role, efforts are often centered around nothing more than writing code to meet whatever requirements apply, and conforming to whatever standards are in play. Software engineering, at a senior developer level, typically takes a bigger-picture view of the same end results. Recently, a new professional level above senior has become available: the Staff Software Engineer. Staff Engineer, as a role, is frequently expected to take a similar bigger-picture view, and apply it across multiple teams, or even whole organizations. There are several facets to this bigger-picture view, some of which will be touched on here: standards, process predictability, and...

Technical requirements

The code in this chapter is for demonstration purposes only, showing the application of some of the topics and practices noted in the chapter.

Roles and expectations

Job titles for roles in software development are widely varied, even before accounting for the distinct levels, grades, or ranks indicating seniority in the field. Role titles include variations of Developer and Engineer, the latter usually prefixed with Application, Software, or some specific technology focus. Examples of these foci include Front End, Back End, and Full Stack for application-focused roles, and Infrastructure or Network for roles that relate to those technologies. There are many more variations. Levels, grades, and ranks include Junior or Associate for those with the least amount of professional experience, Senior for those with a substantial amount of expertise, and, more recently, Staff variants for those with even more experience. A typical progression, focusing on Software Engineer as the base title, might be:

  • Associate Software Engineer
  • Software Engineer
  • Senior Software Engineer
  • Staff Software Engineer
    ...

Looking at the bigger picture

There are three easily identifiable areas of focus that differentiate software engineering as a discipline from simple programming. A fourth (let’s call it user interaction) either weaves through the other three or is broken down into its own groups.

Software engineering must pay heed to standards, especially non-technical (business) ones, and to best practices, which are often independent of business needs. These may or may not be followed but, since they are standards or best practices for a reason, not following them is something that should always be a conscious (and defensible) decision. It is not unusual for business-process standards and practices to span multiple software components, which can make them difficult to track if a certain degree of discipline and planning is not factored into the development process to make them more visible. On the purely development-related side, standards and best practices can drastically impact the...

Asking questions

There can be as many distinct questions that can be asked about any given chunk of code as there are chunks of code to ask about — even quite simple code, living in a complex system, can raise questions in response to questions, and more questions in response to those questions. If there is not an obvious starting point, these basic questions are a good first step:

  • How easily understood is the functionality?
  • Who will be using the functionality?
  • What will they be doing with it?
  • When, and where, will they have access to it?
  • What problem is it trying to solve (why do they need it)?
  • How does it have to work? If detail is lacking, breaking this one down into the following questions is useful:
    • What should happen if it executes successfully?
    • What should happen if the execution fails?

Teasing out more information about the entire system usually starts with something as basic as the...

Summary

There is more to software engineering than just writing code. Experience, attention to detail, and asking questions about how the code functions and interacts with the rest of a system are important aspects of evolving from a programming to a software engineering mindset. The time required to acquire experience can be shortened, perhaps significantly, by simply asking the right questions.

There are also factors completely outside the realm of creating and managing code that contribute to that mindset. They focus mainly on what can, or should, be expected from the pre-development planning around a developmental effort, and that starts with understanding a typical software development life cycle. Knowing what the expectations for each successive level are as you progress to more senior roles, and what to pay heed to in order to meet those expectations, will help in achieving those roles. They will also improve your coding skills, helping to form good habits that can be applied...

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Key benefits

  • Understand what makes Software Engineering a discipline, distinct from basic programming
  • Gain practical insight into updating, refactoring, and scaling an existing Python system
  • Implement robust testing, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud-ready architecture decisions

Description

Software engineering is more than coding; it’s the strategic design and continuous improvement of systems that serve real-world needs. This newly updated second edition of Hands-On Software Engineering with Python expands on its foundational approach to help you grow into a senior or staff-level engineering role. Fully revised for today’s Python ecosystem, this edition includes updated tooling, practices, and architectural patterns. You’ll explore key changes across five minor Python versions, examine new features like dataclasses and type hinting, and evaluate modern tools such as Poetry, pytest, and GitHub Actions. A new chapter introduces high-performance computing in Python, and the entire development process is enhanced with cloud-readiness in mind. You’ll follow a complete redesign and refactor of a multi-tier system from the first edition, gaining insight into how software evolves—and what it takes to do that responsibly. From system modeling and SDLC phases to data persistence, testing, and CI/CD automation, each chapter builds your engineering mindset while updating your hands-on skills. By the end of this book, you'll have mastered modern Python software engineering practices and be equipped to revise and future-proof complex systems with confidence.

Who is this book for?

This book is for Python developers with a basic grasp of software development who want to grow into senior or staff-level engineering roles. It’s ideal for professionals looking to deepen their understanding of software architecture, system modeling, testing strategies, and cloud-aware development. Familiarity with core Python programming is required, as the book focuses on applying engineering principles to maintain, extend, and modernize real-world systems.

What you will learn

  • Distinguish software engineering from general programming
  • Break down and apply each phase of the SDLC to Python systems
  • Create system models to plan architecture before writing code
  • Apply Agile, Scrum, and other modern development methodologies
  • Use dataclasses, pydantic, and schemas for robust data modeling
  • Set up CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions and cloud build tools
  • Write and structure unit, integration, and end-to-end tests
  • Evaluate and integrate tools like Poetry, pytest, and Docker
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Length: 628 pages
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Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781835888001
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Table of Contents

21 Chapters
Introduction Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Programming Versus Software Engineering Revisited Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
The Software Development Life Cycle Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
System Modeling Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Methodologies, Paradigms, and Practices Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Code Style and Related Standards Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Functional Code Standards Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Revisiting Development Tools Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Revising the hms_sys System Project Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Updating Projects and Processes Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Re-Examining Options for Business Objects Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Reviewing Business Object Data Persistence Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Data Persistence and BaseDataObject Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Testing the Business Objects Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
CI/CD Options Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
API Options Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Assembling the API Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
The Final API, Deployed to AWS Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Unlock Your Exclusive Benefits Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
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