7 Python Tricks That Senior Developers Use Daily

Every Python developer picks up tricks over time. Here are 7 that I use almost every day. 1. Walrus Operator (:=) Assign and test in one expression: # Before data = get_data () if data : process ( data ) # After if data : = get_data (): process ( data ) 2. Dictionary Merge (|) Python 3.9+ lets you merge dicts cleanly: defaults = { " theme " : " dark " , " lang " : " en " } user_prefs = { " theme " : " light " } config = defaults | user_prefs # {"theme": "light", "lang": "en"} 3. F-String Debugging Add = after a variable in f-strings: x = 42 print ( f " { x = } " ) # x=42 name = " Alice " print ( f " { name = } , { len ( name ) = } " ) # name='Alice', len(name)=5 4. Structural Pattern Matching Python 3.10+ match statements: def handle_command ( command ): match command . split (): case [ " quit " ]: return " Goodbye! " case [ " hello " , name ]: return f " Hello, { name } ! " case _ : return " Unknown command " 5. itertools.chain for Flat Iteration from itertools import chain lists = [[