The Importance of Building Projects IN PYTHON
The Importance of Building Projects IN PYTHON
Web
Web applications are applications that run on the web, they can be
accessed on any device without being downloaded, provided there is
access to the internet. If you want your projects to be accessible by
everyone with internet access, it needs to be a web application.
A web application has a back end and front end. The back end is the
part where the business logic is: your back-end code will manipulate
and store data. The front end is the interface of the application: your
front-end code will determine the look of a web application.
As an intermediate Python developer, your major focus will be the
back-end code. However, the front-end code is important too, so you
will need some knowledge of HTML, CSS, and maybe JavaScript to
create a simple-looking interface. Just the basics will be enough.
Another option is to use Python for both the front end and back end.
Thanks to the anvil library, which eliminates the need for HTML, CSS,
and JavaScript, you can focus on Python code alone.
You can build web applications with Python through web frameworks
such as django and flask. The list of frameworks for building web
applications using Python is long. There are plenty to choose from,
but django and flask remain the most popular web frameworks.
Desktop GUI
You do not have to learn any front-end technology to create your own
Graphical User Interface (GUI) applications, as you saw with web
applications. You can build all the parts using Python.
The software you create for the Desktop GUI is able to work on any of
the Windows, Linux, or Mac operating systems. All you have to do after
creating the project is compile it to an executable for your operating
system of choice.
Command-Line
Remove ads
Content Aggregator
Regex Query Tool
URL Shortener
Post-It Note
Quiz Application
Content Aggregator
With the content aggregator, all of the latest information can be gotten
from one site that aggregates all the content. People can see the posts
that interest them and can decide to find out more about them without
traipsing all over the internet.
AllTop
Hvper
Technical Details
Extra Challenge
For a tougher challenge, you can add more websites. This will help
you learn how to study and extract information from websites.
You can also have users subscribe to certain sites that you aggregate.
Then, at the end of the day, the content aggregator will send the
articles for that day to the email address of the user.
Regex Query Tool
You and I deal with text daily. This article, which is also text, has a
structure. This makes it easier for you to understand. Sometimes, you
need to find certain information in text, and using the regular search
tool in text editors can be ineffective.
This is where the Regex Query Tool comes in. A regex is a set of strings,
so the regex query tool will check for the validity of the queries. When
the regex matches patterns in the text, it tells the user and highlights
the matched patterns. So, your Regex Query Tool will check the validity
of the regex strings passed in by the user.
With the Regex Query Tool, users can quickly check the validity of their
regex strings on the web. This makes it easier for them, instead of
having to check the strings with a text editor.
FreeFormatter
RegexTester
Technical Details
The main objective of this type of project is to tell the user the validity
of the inputted query strings. You can make it give a positive or
negative response such as Query String Is Valid and Query String Is
Invalid, implementing the positive response in green and the negative
in red.
You don’t have to implement the query tool from scratch. You can use
Python’s standard re library, which you can use to run the query strings
on the inputted text. The re library will return None when the query
string matches nothing, and it’ll return the matched strings when
positive.
Some users may not understand regex fully, so you can make a page to
explain how regex works. You can make documentation that is
interesting enough to keep the users excited about learning and
understanding regex.
Extra Challenge
Making a project that just returns the validity of the regex is fine. But
you can also add a replacement feature. This means the application will
check for the validity of the regex and also allow users to replace the
matched strings with something else. So the tool is no longer a find
tool but also a replace tool.
URL Shortener
URLs can be extremely long and not user-friendly. When people share
links or even try to remember a URL, it’s difficult because most URLs
are filled with more difficult characters and don’t form meaningful
words.
This is where the URL Shortener comes in. A URL Shortener reduces the
characters or letters in a URL, making them easier to read and
remember. A URL like xyz.com/wwryb78&svnhkn%sghq?sfiyh can be
shortened to xyz.com/piojwr.
Bitly
MeShort
Technical Details
The main objective of this project idea is to shorten URLs. The main
task the application will accomplish is to shorten URLs and then
redirect users to the original URL when the shortened URL is visited.
In the application, the users will input the original URL, and they will
get the new, shortened URL as the result. To do this, you can use a
combination of the random and string modules to generate the
characters for the shortened URL.
Since users will visit the shortened URL days, months, or even years
after, you’ll need to save the original and shortened URLs in a
database. When a request comes in, the application checks if the URL
exists and redirects to the original, or else it redirects to a 404 page.
Extra Challenge
Post-It Note
It’s human to have many thoughts and ideas in a day, but it’s also
human to forget. One way to work around forgetting things is to jot
them down before they disappear into thin air. While some of
forgotten thoughts and ideas may be trivial, some can be quite
powerful.
This is where a Post-It note comes in: A Post-It note is a small paper
with low-tack adhesive at the back, making it attachable to surfaces
such as documents, walls. Post-It notes make it easier to jot things
down. The Post-It note project idea is something similar. It allows users
to jot things down, making them accessible anywhere, since it’s a web
application.
With the Post-It note, people can now jot things down anywhere,
without the fear of forgetting things or misplacing the notes—which is
a possibility with physical notes.
Technical Details
Since users may need to separate their notes under different sections,
implementing a feature to allow users to categorize their notes will
make the application more useful.
Extra Challenge
Since it’s human for users to forget their ideas, it’s also human for them
to forget that they even made a note somewhere. You can add a
feature to remind users of their notes. This feature will allow users to
set a time for the reminder, so the application will send the reminder to
the users when it’s time, by email.
Remove ads
Quiz Application
Knowledge is power. There are so many things in the world to learn,
and quizzes help in testing the understanding of those concepts. You,
as an intermediate Python developer, do not have to understand
everything about the language. Taking tests is one way to find out
things you don’t fully understand.
This is where the Quiz Application comes in. The Quiz Application will
present questions to the users and expect the right answers to those
questions. Think of the Quiz Application as a kind of questionnaire.
With the Quiz Application, special users you can call administrators will
be allowed to create tests, so regular users can answer the questions
and test their understanding of the topics in the quiz.
myQuiz
Kahoot
Technical Details
The main objective of this project is to set quizzes and have people
answer them. Therefore, users should be able to set questions, and
other users should be able to answer those questions. The application
will then display the final score and the right answers.
If you want users to be able to have a record of their scores, you may
have to implement an account creation feature.
Users creating the tests should be able to create tests with the
questions and answers by simply uploading a text file. The text file will
have a format that you can decide, so the application can convert from
a file to a quiz.
You’ll need to implement a database for this project. The database will
store the questions, possible answers, correct answers, and the scores
for each user.
Extra Challenge
For more of a challenge, you can allow users to add timers to the
quizzes. This way, the creators of a quiz can determine how many
seconds or minutes a user should spend on each question in the quiz.
MP3 Player
Alarm Tool
File Manager
Expense Tracker
MP3 Player
This is where the MP3 Player comes in. The MP3 Player is a device for
playing MP3s and other digital audio files. This MP3 Player GUI project
idea attempts to emulate the physical MP3 Player. You can build
software that allows you play an MP3 files on your desktop or laptop
computer.
When you are done building the MP3 Player project, users can play
their MP3 files and other digital audio files without having to purchase
a physical MP3 Player. They’ll be able to play the MP3 files using their
computers.
Technical Details
The main objective of this project is to allow users to play MP3 and
digital audio files. To be engaging for users, the application has to have
a simple but beautiful user interface.
You can have an interface for listing the available MP3 files. You can
also give users the option to list other digital audio files that are not
MP3.
The users will also expect the MP3 Player to have an interface that
shows information on the file that is playing. Some of the information
you can include are the name of the file, its length, the amount played,
and the amount not played, in minutes and seconds.
Python has libraries that can play audio files, such as pygame, which
allows you to work with multimedia files in few lines of code. You can
also check out pymedia and simpleaudio.
These libraries can handle a lot of digital audio files. They can handle
other file types, not just the MP3 files.
You can also implement a feature that allows users to create a playlist.
To do this, you’ll need a database to store information on the created
playlists. Python’s sqlite3 module allows you to use the SQLite
database.
Extra Challenge
For a more exciting challenge, you can add a feature to allow the MP3
player to repeat currently playing files or even shuffle the list of files to
be played.
It’s also possible to implement a feature that allows users to increase
and decrease the playing speed of the audio file. Users will find this
interesting, as they’ll be able to play files at a slower or faster pace than
usual.
Remove ads
Alarm Tool
As they say, “Time and tide wait for no man.” But with a lot of things
going on in our lives, it’s difficult to not lose track of time. To be able
to keep track of time, a reminder is needed.
This is where the Alarm Tool comes in. An alarm is a device that gives
an audio or visual signal about a certain condition. This Alarm Tool
project idea is an attempt to build an alarm as software. The Alarm
Tool gives an audio signal when a certain condition is met. The set time
is the certain condition in this case.
With the Alarm Tool, users can set alarms to remind them of things at
certain times of the day. The Alarm Tool project will work from the
user’s laptop or desktop device, so they do not have to purchase a
physical timer.
FreeAlarmClock
TimerForMac
Technical Details
The Alarm Tool should allow users to create, edit, and delete alarms. It
should also have an interface that lists all the alarms, provided they
have not being deleted by the user. So, it should list the active and
inactive alarms.
Since it is an alarm, the application has to play tones at the set time.
There are libraries for playing audio, like the pygame library.
In your code logic, the application has to keep checking for set alarm
times. When the time is reached, it triggers a function to play the alarm
tone.
Since the application will check for set alarm times, it means the
application has to save the alarms in a database. The database should
store things like the alarm date, time, and tone location.
Extra Challenge
As an extra feature, you can allow users to set recurring alarms. They’ll
be able to set alarms that will ring at a certain time on certain days of
the week, every week. As an example, an alarm can be set at 2:00 PM
every Monday.
You can also add a snooze feature, so your users can snooze alarms
instead of only dismissing them.
File Manager
This is where a file manager comes in. A file manager allows users to
manage files and directories through a user interface. While files can be
managed through the command-line, not all users know how to do
that.
With a file manager, users can arrange, access, and administer their
files and directories properly without knowing how to use the
command line. Some of the tasks a file manager allows users to
perform includes copying, moving, and renaming files or directories.
Technical Details
Your users should be able to perform simple tasks like creating new
directories or empty text files. They should also be able to copy and
move files or directories.
The grid and list views are popular views today, so you can implement
both in the application. This gives the user the option to choose which
view option is suitable for them.
Extra Challenge
To make the file manager a bit more advanced, you can implement a
search feature. So users can search for files and directories without
having to find them manually.
You can also implement a sort feature. This will allow users to sort files
according to different orders, such as time, alphabetical order, or size.
Remove ads
Expense Tracker
With the expense tracker, users can set a budget and track their
spending so as to make better financial decisions.
Buddi
GnuCash
Technical Details
While tracking the expenses is the key thing, a good interface is also
important. With PySimpleGUI, you can create a unique interface to
improve the experience of the users.
The application will receive data from the users. The data here is the
inputted expenses. So, you’ll have to store the expenses in a database.
The SQLite database is a good database choice for this project since it
can be set up quickly. You can use sqlite3 module for the SQLite
database.
Extra Challenge
For your users to benefit from this project, they’ll have to input their
expenses regularly, which might slip their mind. It could be useful for
you to implement a reminder feature. So the application will send a
notification at certain times of the day or the week, reminding them to
make use of the expense tracker.
Contact Book
File Connectivity Checker
Bulk File Rename Tool
Directory Tree Generator
Contact Book
This is where the Contact Book project comes in. A contact book is a
tool for saving a contact’s details, such as name, address, phone
number, and email address. With this contact book project, you can
build a software tool that people can use to save and find contact
details.
With the contact book project idea, users can save their contacts with
less risk of losing the saved contact details. It’ll always be accessible
from their computer, through the command-line.
There are Contact Book applications, but it’s rare to find command-line
Contact Book products, as most are web, mobile, or GUI applications.
Here are some implementations of the Contact Book idea:
Simple Contacts
Pobuca Connect
Technical Details
Since it’s a command-line project, the SQLite database will be fine for
saving contacts. SQLite is user-friendly to set up. You may save the
contact details in a file, but a file will not offer the benefits you can gain
from using SQLite, such as performance and security.
Extra Challenge
You can also add a command that allows users to backup the database
themselves. This way, the user can still have access to the contacts if
the database file is lost.
You should note that you may need some form of identification, so the
contact book can tell which database file belongs to which user.
Implementing a user authentication feature is one way to go about it.
When you visit a URL, you expect to get the requested pages on your
browser. But this is not always the case. Sometimes, sites can be down,
so you won’t get the desired results. Instead, you’ll be presented with
error messages. You can keep trying a site that is down, till it comes up
and you get the information you need.
This is where the Site Connectivity Checker project comes in. The Site
Connectivity Checker visits a URL and returns the status of the URL: it is
either live or not. The Site Connectivity Checker will visit the URL at
intervals, returning the results of each visit.
Ping
Site24x7
Technical Details
The main objective of this project is to check the status of sites. So, you
need to write code for checking the status of a website.
Since you’ll have to save the list of files to be checked, you can either
save it in a file (just a list of sites) or use a SQLite database through
the sqlite3 module.
Extra Challenge
The application can check for the connectivity status of sites and
display the results to the command-line. But this will require the user to
keep checking the command-line.
The Bulk File Rename Tool allows users to rename a large number of
files, without having to manually rename files.
This saves users a lot of time. It spares them the trouble of having to
do boring repetitive work and make mistakes. With the Bulk File
Rename Tool, users can rename files in a couple of seconds without
any mistakes.
Ren
Rename
Technical Details
The main objective of this project idea is to rename files. So, the
application needs to find a way to manipulate the target files.
The os, sys, and shutil libraries will be useful for a large part of this
project.
Your users will be able to rename all the files in the directory, using
naming conventions. Therefore, they should be able to pass in the
naming convention of choice. The regex module will help match the
required naming patterns, if you understand how regex works.
Extra Challenge
Note that renaming only a certain number of files will require the tool
to sort the files based on alphabetical order, time of file creation, or file
size, depending on the user’s requirements.
When you’re working with files and directories, it is difficult to see the
relationship between directories, as you can only see what exists in the
current directory. You’re either using a file manager or working from
the command-line.
With a Directory Tree Generator, you can see the relationship between
files and directories like a tree or a map.
This makes it easier to understand the positioning of files and
directories. A directory tree map is important when you’re explaining
certain concepts, and a Directory Tree Generator makes it easier to get
a visual representation of the file and directory relationships.
Tree
Dirtreex
Technical Details
In the application’s logic, you can decide how you want to represent
files or directories. Using different colors is a brilliant way to go about
it. You can use the colored library to print the files and directories in
different colors.
You can also decide how deep you’d like the Directory Tree Generator
to go. For example, if a directory has children directories twelve levels
deep, you may decide to go only as deep as the fifth level.
If you wish, you can also let the user decide how deep they want the
Directory Tree Generator to go.
Extra Challenge
Remove ads
Conclusion
In this article, you’ve seen a couple of Python project ideas you may
find interesting.
The project ideas cover a range of platforms. You saw project ideas for
the Web, GUI, and Command-line platforms.
You can choose to build a project for different platforms. Using the
URL Shortener as an example, you may choose to build one for the
Web, GUI, or the Command-line.