The EuroPython 2019 conference came to Basel, Switzerland this summer! Check out our summary of this lovely event.
Miraiers were pleased to attend their first Python conference, as we expand our knowledge and skills increasingly using Python. The community and backgrounds of the ~1200 attendants was similar to R conferences such as useR! or eRum, albeit with fewer academic topics and a more technical IT focus. The first two days consisted of workshops, followed by three conference days, and finally a hackathon over the weekend. The conference days were packed with 6 parallel sessions and lightning talks at the end of each day. Three out of four keynote speakers were women, proving the Python community cares about inclusion and diversity (one of which was actually addressing this).
Topics ranged from various machine learning talks including TensorFlow and scikit-learn to beginner help (PEPs, code review, etc.) and more advanced features such as Cython and an in-depth view of the Python grammar. Furthermore, a few talks also addressed several technical aspects of Python and how to improve code and performance, e.g. static typing, Numba and new features to come with Python 3.8. Yet others talked about challenges in larger or security sensitive projects, for example mentioning Docker and Kubernetes. Finally, Pythonistas also proved their playful side as each attendant received a Pew Pew that allowed people to play already installed classics like tetris or snake and of course to program new games or applications, all running in lightweight CircuitPython. Luba Elliott’s keynote about AI in contemporary art was fascinating as well (examples).
We’re definitely looking forward to next year’s EuroPython!