Python Programming For Beginners: Practical Lessons for Building Real-World Applications

Contents

Introduction

Section 1: Auditing

What's Covered?

Planning Your Auditing Strategy

Getting Into the Right Mindset

Recording Your Findings

Automated Tooling

PHP Insights

Enlightn

Larastan

Style CI

Code Coverage

Manual Auditing

Investigating "raw" Database Queries

Finding Incorrect Authorisation

Checking Validation

Finding "Fake Facades"

Finding Business Logic in Helpers

Finding N+1 Queries

Finding Controllers That Use Other Controllers

Finding Logic and Queries in Blade Views

Finding Hard-Coded Credentials

Check Open Package Routes

Reviewing Project Documentation

Section 2: Testing

What's Covered?

Planning Your Testing Strategy

The Benefits of Writing Tests

Spotting Bugs Early

Making Future Work and Refactoring Easier

Changing the Way You Approach Writing Code

Tests-As-Documentation

Prove That Bugs Exist

Structuring Your Tests

Directory Structure

Choosing What To Test

Test Structure

Data Providers

Writing the Tests

Prioritising Mission-Critical Tests First

Writing the Rest of the Tests

Benefits of Writing the Easy Tests First

Preventing Test Fatigue

Testing Your UI with Laravel Dusk

Installation

Testing a Simple Form

Dusk Pages and Selectors

Running Failed Tests and Groups

Creating a CI Workflow Using GitHub Actions

Using an .env.ci File

Running the Test Suite

Larastan

Laravel Dusk

Output

Section 3: Fixing

What's Covered?

Planning Your Fixing Strategy

Using an Error Reporting System

Types of Errors

The Benefits of an Automated Error Reporting System

Error Reporting Using Flare

Uptime Checking, Queue Monitoring, and Scheduler Monitoring

Uptime Monitoring with Oh Dear

Scheduler Monitoring with Oh Dear

Queue Monitoring with Oh Dear

Updating PHP, Laravel, and Packages

Upgrading in Small Increments

Automating the Upgrade Using Laravel Shift

Planning Upgrades Early

Using a Suitable Local Development Environment

Using Tests to Fix Bugs

What is Test-Driven Development?

The Advantages of Test-Driven Development

The Disadvantages of Test-Driven Development

Fixing a Real Bug Using Test-Driven Development

Safely Removing Dead Code

Checking the Version Control History

Scream Test

Logging or Reporting the Usage

Removing the Code with an Atomic Commit

Section 4: Improving

What's Covered?

Planning Your Improvement Strategy

Making the Most of PHP's Type System

Using Type Hints and Return Types

Union Types

Type Hints and Return Types in Closures

DRYing Up Your Code

Advantages of DRYing Up Your Code

When to DRY Up Your Code

Refactoring Conditions

Reducing Indented Code

Replacing if and elseif with match

Using the Nullsafe Operator

Using Database Transactions

Adding the Database Transactions

Manually Using Database Transactions

Tips for Interacting with Third-Party Services

Using Automatic or Manual Transactions

Dispatching Queued Jobs inside Database Transactions

Improving the Testability of Your Code

Using Objects Over Arrays

Final Words

Discount Codes

Flare

Oh Dear

StyleCI

Laravel Security In Depth

This eBook, "Python Programming for Beginners - Practical Lessons for Building Real-World Applications", provides a comprehensive introduction to Python through ten structured chapters. It starts by explaining why Python is popular, guiding you through environment setup, and teaching essential syntax and data types. You then learn about more advanced subjects such as control flow, functions, and how to write clean, modular code. The book goes deeper into data structures, including dictionaries, lists, tuples, and sets, illustrating how each one is suited for different tasks.

You also discover the fundamentals of object-oriented programming—classes, inheritance, and encapsulation—making it easier to design maintainable applications. The chapters on error handling show how to manage exceptions and create custom error types, ensuring your code remains robust. You learn how to work with files, directories, and popular libraries such as NumPy, Pandas, and Requests, exploring data manipulation and API integration. Finally, the eBook culminates in a real-world project, walking you through step-by-step project organization, core feature implementation, testing, and deployment strategies.

By blending theory with practical examples, this eBook equips you with the confidence and skills needed to develop functional, scalable Python applications that address everyday coding challenges.