The Setup

💡

10 minutes of setup saves 100 hours of pain.

1. Your Editor

VS Code + two extensions. Without them, VS Code treats Python like plain text. No autocomplete, no error highlighting, nothing.

🧩 How?

Install VS Code from code.visualstudio.com

Verify Python is installed:

bash

python --version

No version number? Download from python.org.

Extensions (open Extensions sidebar in VS Code):

Extension	What it gives you
Python (Microsoft)	Run and debug support
Pylance (Microsoft)	Autocomplete, type checking, error detection

📌 Summary

Task	What to do
Editor	VS Code
Verify Python	python --version
Extension 1	Python (by Microsoft)
Extension 2	Pylance (by Microsoft)

2. UV

Python's default tooling is a mess. You need pip to install, venv to isolate, virtualenv as an alternative, and none of them talk to each other. UV replaces all of them. One tool. One command. Everything handled.

Old way	The problem
pip	No project isolation, no lock file
venv + pip	Two tools, manual activation
pipenv	Slow, complex
poetry	Better, but still slow
UV	All of the above, fast

🧩 How?

Install:

bash

pip install uv

Create a project and run it:

bash

uv init my-project
cd my-project
uv run main.py

No virtual environment activation. No pip install. UV handles it.

📌 Summary

Task	Command
Install UV	pip install uv
Create project	uv init project-name
Enter folder	cd project-name
Run code	uv run main.py

3. Hello World

One line. Proof that everything works.

🧩 How?

Create main.py:

python

print("Hello World")

Run it:

bash

uv run main.py

plain text

Hello World

If you see that, your setup is done.

4. Ruff

Bad formatting wastes time. Inconsistent code is hard to read. Ruff fixes both: it finds mistakes (linting) and cleans up your code (formatting), automatically, every time you save.

🧩 How?

Step 1: Install the Ruff extension (by Charlie Marsh) in VS Code.

Step 2: Add this to your VS Code settings.json:

json

"[python]": {
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "editor.defaultFormatter": "charliermarsh.ruff"
}

Save a messy file. Watch it snap into shape. That's Ruff.

📌 Summary

Task	What to do
Install	Ruff extension in VS Code
Configure	editor.formatOnSave: true
Formatter	charliermarsh.ruff
How it works	Save your file, Ruff formats it

5. Libraries

You don't build everything from scratch. Libraries are code someone else already wrote. Some come with Python. Some you install.

🧩 How?

Built-in (already on your machine):

python

import math

print(math.sqrt(16))       # 4.0
print(math.pi)             # 3.14159...

python

import random

print(random.randint(1, 10))
print(random.choice(["Ahmed", "Faadumo", "Yusuf"]))

Installable (one command away):

bash

uv add pyfiglet

python

import pyfiglet

print(pyfiglet.figlet_format("BASHI"))

plain text

 ____    _    ____  _   _ ___
| __ )  / \  / ___|| | | |_ _|
|  _ \ / _ \ \___ \| |_| || |
| |_) / ___ \ ___) |  _  || |
|____/_/   \_\____/|_| |_|___|

📌 Summary

Type	Example	How
Built-in	math, random	import math
Installable	pyfiglet	uv add pyfiglet → import pyfiglet

Cheat Sheet

bash

python --version          # verify Python
pip install uv            # install UV
uv init my-project        # create project
cd my-project
uv run main.py            # run code
uv add pyfiglet           # install a library

The Setup in 4 steps:

The Setup

💡

10 minutes of setup saves 100 hours of pain.

1. Your Editor

VS Code + two extensions. Without them, VS Code treats Python like plain text. No autocomplete, no error highlighting, nothing.

🧩 How?

Install VS Code from code.visualstudio.com

Verify Python is installed:

bash

python --version

No version number? Download from python.org.

Extensions (open Extensions sidebar in VS Code):

Extension	What it gives you
Python (Microsoft)	Run and debug support
Pylance (Microsoft)	Autocomplete, type checking, error detection

📌 Summary

Task	What to do
Editor	VS Code
Verify Python	python --version
Extension 1	Python (by Microsoft)
Extension 2	Pylance (by Microsoft)

2. UV

Old way	The problem
pip	No project isolation, no lock file
venv + pip	Two tools, manual activation
pipenv	Slow, complex
poetry	Better, but still slow
UV	All of the above, fast

🧩 How?

Install:

bash

pip install uv

Create a project and run it:

bash

uv init my-project
cd my-project
uv run main.py

No virtual environment activation. No pip install. UV handles it.

📌 Summary

Task	Command
Install UV	pip install uv
Create project	uv init project-name
Enter folder	cd project-name
Run code	uv run main.py

3. Hello World

One line. Proof that everything works.

🧩 How?

Create main.py:

python

print("Hello World")

Run it:

bash

uv run main.py

plain text

Hello World

If you see that, your setup is done.

4. Ruff

Bad formatting wastes time. Inconsistent code is hard to read. Ruff fixes both: it finds mistakes (linting) and cleans up your code (formatting), automatically, every time you save.

🧩 How?

Step 1: Install the Ruff extension (by Charlie Marsh) in VS Code.

Step 2: Add this to your VS Code settings.json:

json

"[python]": {
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "editor.defaultFormatter": "charliermarsh.ruff"
}

Save a messy file. Watch it snap into shape. That's Ruff.

📌 Summary

Task	What to do
Install	Ruff extension in VS Code
Configure	editor.formatOnSave: true
Formatter	charliermarsh.ruff
How it works	Save your file, Ruff formats it

5. Libraries

You don't build everything from scratch. Libraries are code someone else already wrote. Some come with Python. Some you install.

🧩 How?

Built-in (already on your machine):

python

import math

print(math.sqrt(16))       # 4.0
print(math.pi)             # 3.14159...

python

import random

print(random.randint(1, 10))
print(random.choice(["Ahmed", "Faadumo", "Yusuf"]))

Installable (one command away):

bash

uv add pyfiglet

python

import pyfiglet

print(pyfiglet.figlet_format("BASHI"))

plain text

 ____    _    ____  _   _ ___
| __ )  / \  / ___|| | | |_ _|
|  _ \ / _ \ \___ \| |_| || |
| |_) / ___ \ ___) |  _  || |
|____/_/   \_\____/|_| |_|___|

📌 Summary

Type	Example	How
Built-in	math, random	import math
Installable	pyfiglet	uv add pyfiglet → import pyfiglet

Cheat Sheet

bash

python --version          # verify Python
pip install uv            # install UV
uv init my-project        # create project
cd my-project
uv run main.py            # run code
uv add pyfiglet           # install a library

The Setup in 4 steps: