Maintaining Your Python Developer Instincts While Using LLM Tools

2026-06-26

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Do you feel like your Python skills are atrophying after using LLM coding tools? How do you add the right kind of friction into your coding routine to keep your developer instincts sharp? Christopher Trudeau is back on the show this week with another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects. We discuss a recent article by previous guest Bob Belderbos about developers keeping their instincts when AI is writing the code. He stresses the importance of the right kind of friction for maintaining skills and scheduling a deliberate coding practice r...

We discuss a recent article by previous guest Bob Belderbos about developers keeping their instincts when AI is writing the code. He stresses the importance of the right kind of friction for maintaining skills and scheduling a deliberate coding practice routine.

We also share other articles and projects from the Python community, including new releases, a roundup of recent Real Python tutorials and video courses, sending emails with Python, libraries to enhance your Python Polars workflows, exploring Django Integrity-Policy, a next-generation HTTP client for Python, and a project to detect lazy imports incompatibilities.

This episode is sponsored by AURI by Endor Labs

Course Spotlight: Accessing Multiple AI Models With the OpenRouter API

Access models from popular AI providers in Python through OpenRouter’s unified API with smart routing, fallbacks, and cost controls.

Topics:

00:00:00 – Introduction
00:02:53 – Python 3.14.6, 3.13.14, and 3.15.0b2 Released
00:03:20 – Django Security Releases Issued: 6.0.6 and 5.2.15
00:03:35 – PyPy v7.3.23 Released
00:04:25 – Python sleep(): How to Add Time Delays to Your Code
00:04:59 – Structuring Your Python Script
00:05:36 – How to Use GitHub Copilot Code Review in Pull Requests
00:06:13 – Accessing Multiple AI Models With the OpenRouter API
00:07:25 – Cursor vs Windsurf: Which AI Code Editor Is Best for Python?
00:08:28 – Sending Emails With Python
00:16:31 – Sponsor:AURI from Endor Labs
00:17:17 – Announcing Polars 1.41
00:19:43 – Libraries for Your Python Polars Workflows
00:23:42 – Django: Introducing Django-Integrity-Policy
00:28:39 – Video Course Spotlight
00:30:21 – Keep Your Developer Instincts When AI Writes the Code
00:39:58 – Lifeguard: Detect Lazy Imports Incompatibilities
00:42:46 – httpx2: A Next Generation HTTP Client for Python
00:45:34 – Thanks and goodbye

News:

Python 3.14.6 and 3.13.14 Released
Python 3.15.0b2 Released
Django Security Releases Issued: 6.0.6 and 5.2.15
PyPy v7.3.23 Released

Real Python News:

Python sleep(): How to Add Time Delays to Your Code - Tutorial
Structuring Your Python Script - Video Course
How to Use GitHub Copilot Code Review in Pull Requests – Tutorial
Accessing Multiple AI Models With the OpenRouter API – Video Course
Cursor vs Windsurf: Which AI Code Editor Is Best for Python? – Tutorial

Show Links:

Sending Emails With Python – Learn how to send emails with Python using SMTP, attach files, format HTML messages, and personalize bulk emails for your contact list.
Announcing Polars 1.41 – Polars 1.41 is out and this post covers the new features it includes. Learn about faster parquet metadata decoding, nested subplan elimination, and more.
Libraries for Your Python Polars Workflows – Four excellent libraries for your data science workflow with support for Polars DataFrames
Django: Introducing Django-Integrity-Policy – Recently, browsers have added support for the new Integrity-Policy response header (Firefox 145+, Chrome 138+). Adam quickly went to work to build a library that enables your Django project to take advantage of the feature.
How to Keep Your Developer Instincts When AI Writes the Code – The promise was less friction. The cost, it turns out, is instinct, a high price to pay. Bob’s answer: add deliberate practice to your routine, and keep the struggle.

Projects: