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The Past, Present, And Future Of The FLUFL: Barry Warsaw Shares His History With Python

Summary

Barry Warsaw has been a member of the Python community since the very beginning. His contributions to the growth of the language and its ecosystem are innumerable and diverse, earning him the title of Friendly Language Uncle For Life. In this episode he reminisces on his experiences as a core developer, a member of the Python Steering Committee, and his roles at Canonical and LinkedIn supporting the use of Python at those companies. In order to know where you are going it is always important to understand where you have been and this was a great conversation to get a sense of the history of how Python has gotten to where it is today.

Announcements

  • Hello and welcome to Podcast.__init__, the podcast about Python and the people who make it great.
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  • You listen to this show to learn and stay up to date with the ways that Python is being used, including the latest in machine learning and data analysis. For more opportunities to stay up to date, gain new skills, and learn from your peers there are a growing number of virtual events that you can attend from the comfort and safety of your home. Go to pythonpodcast.com/conferences to check out the upcoming events being offered by our partners and get registered today!
  • Your host as usual is Tobias Macey and today I’m interviewing Barry Warsaw about his role in the Python community, past, present, and future.

Interview

  • Introductions
  • How did you get introduced to Python?
  • For anyone who isn’t familiar with you, how would you characterize your role in the Python language and community?
  • What have been your main areas of focus in your role as a core developer?
    • What are some of the other forms that your contributions to the language and community have taken?
  • What are the contributions to Python that you are most proud of?
  • Looking back at the past 25 years of Python, what do you find most interesting/surprising/exciting?
  • How has the focus of the community changed or evolved since you first began using it?
  • What are you currently focused on in your role in the steering council?
  • What are the aspects of the language and community that you think need greater attention?
  • What are the core strengths of the language and community that you believe will carry it through the next 25 years?
  • In your current and previous roles you acted as a guiding force for Python. What are the main use cases for Python at LinkedIn?
    • What kinds of projects are you involved with to support the other engineers in their use of Python?
  • How much of an impact has the invisible hand of the PSU had on the overall trajectory of Python?
  • Outside of Python, what are the programming languages or communities that you look to for inspiration?
  • What are your personal goals for the future of Python?

Keep In Touch

Picks

Closing Announcements

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Links

The intro and outro music is from Requiem for a Fish The Freak Fandango Orchestra / CC BY-SA

Episode source