iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 28/09/2026

SOLID principles are needed in the age of AI-assisted programming. Here’s the S in SOLID www.thepythoncodingstack.com/p/solid-sing...

thepythoncodingstack.com

The Potion Shop That Does Too Much • The S in SOLID

The Single Responsibility Principle • SOLID Ideas • #1

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 25/09/2026

Do you miss chatting to Real People? You've been chatting with agents for too long! Join me for a casual and informal chat at --Real Python Live-- Every Wednesday at 1900 UTC (or see time in your timezone here: realpython.com/live/real-py... @realpython.com

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 06/09/2026

You open a blank .py file in your favourite IDE. You have a blank page in front of you. You start writing code. Or do you? www.thepythoncodingstack.com/p/how-i-code...

thepythoncodingstack.com

How I Code (Late 2026 Version)

Programming has changed. How I code now is different from a few months ago

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 22/06/2026

Chapter 2 in Agents Unpacked is out: Anatomy of an Agent I continue on my journey of learning about agentic AI from my personalised learning mentor agent… www.thepythoncodingstack.com/p/2-anatomy-...

thepythoncodingstack.com

2. Anatomy of an Agent

Authors: Priya & Stephen

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 08/06/2026

There are 113 posters or notices stuck to the wall or notice boards in the doctor’s surgery waiting room. I’m sure someone must have carried out a research project somewhere, some time to show the optimum number is…much, much less than this!

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 06/06/2026

What makes a good 100m start? Is it what commentators on TV want us to believe? Lyles vs Anthony at Rome diamond league--a step by step analysis, literally Here's the link: backonthetrack.substack.com/p/whats-a-go...

Cover image showing the title of the article What's a Good 100m Start?

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 04/06/2026

"You know that street game where the performer (con artist?) has three opaque cups and a small ball. He places the cups upside down on the table, with the ball under one of the cups. He quickly shuffles the cups around and then ... www.thepythoncodingstack.com/p/down-the-i...

thepythoncodingstack.com

Down The Iterator Rabbit Hole

Following the trail when you have a chain of iterators

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 04/06/2026

thepythoncodingstack.com

Down The Iterator Rabbit Hole

Following the trail when you have a chain of iterators

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 03/06/2026

I had missed the Agentic AI boat last year, even though I was using LLMs daily… …this is how I caught up/am catching up Second post in this series coming soon (make sure you're subscribed…)

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 01/06/2026

What works for me is not necessarily what works for others, but I was curious about what the current research says… backonthetrack.substack.com/p/the-shoe-d...

backonthetrack.substack.com

The Shoe Debate: Minimalist or Cushioned?

My injuries in my first career were due to many reasons.

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 01/06/2026

What works for me is not necessarily what works for others, but I was curious about what the current research says… backonthetrack.substack.com/p/the-shoe-d...

backonthetrack.substack.com

The Shoe Debate: Minimalist or Cushioned?

My injuries in my first career were due to many reasons.

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 31/05/2026

I have several articles across my various fields of interest ready for publication or almost ready--I'll try to make a push with some of them today: - An interesting take on iterables and iterators in Python - The next article in the Agents Uncovered series about understanding AI Agents ...

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 30/05/2026

In the series “this wouldn’t have been possible six months ago” I was on my way to a track and field meeting this morning. I’m a coach so I need to monitor results for several athletes. …

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 28/05/2026

I find "claude" is one of those words I need to slow down to type (or I get typos if I don't slow down) Caveat: My touch typing skills are OK but not exceptional Is it just me?

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 24/05/2026

The first post in the Agents Unpacked series. My quest to move from "understanding chatbots and LLMs" to "understanding agents and agentic AI" www.thepythoncodingstack.com/p/understand...

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 24/05/2026

The first post in the Agents Unpacked series. My quest to move from "understanding chatbots and LLMs" to "understanding agents and agentic AI" www.thepythoncodingstack.com/p/understand...

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 21/05/2026

""" I know how I like to learn new things. Over the years, I figured out what works for me and what doesn’t. If you read my articles or attend my courses, then you know how I like to learn since I teach in the same way. ... www.thepythoncodingstack.com/p/how-i-lear...

thepythoncodingstack.com

How I Learn (2026 Version) • My Tutor Agent

…and you'll be able to see my new system at work with two new sections here on The Python Coding Stack

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 21/05/2026

thepythoncodingstack.com

How I Learn (2026 Version) • My Tutor Agent

…and you'll be able to see my new system at work with two new sections here on The Python Coding Stack

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 04/05/2026

This batch of special methods is the most confusing… in part because of similar/overlapping names… in part because some of them are interlinked and intertwined Here's my attempt at reducing the confusion `__getitem__()`, `__getattr__()`, `__getattribute__()`, and `__get__()`

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 04/05/2026

This article contains the following sentence: > Now, you won’t forget the four “get“ special methods. My son just walked out disapprovingly when he read this! www.thepythoncodingstack.com/p/do-you-get...

thepythoncodingstack.com

Do You Get It Now?

Python's `.__getitem__()`, `.__getattr__()`, `.__getattribute__()`, and `.__get__()` • What's The Difference? • Let's clear the confusion

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 03/05/2026

When you set out to write a "quick, short article" and you end up with 5,500 words… …I'll try to publish tonight, but there's still all the editing and fine-tuning phases to go…

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 24/04/2026

This has been the longest gap between published articles since I started The Python Coding Stack three years ago—one month between posts. More than one reason. But I’m now back with a vengeance. Stay tuned for several projects I’m brewing at the moment.

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 25/04/2026

OpenClaw Some love it. Some hate it. For better or for worse, it’s the avenue I chose for exploring agentic AI. Stay tuned. I made lots and lots of mistakes. But I get it now More soon

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 24/04/2026

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 24/04/2026

Sometimes it’s AI-assisted human coding Sometimes it’s human-assisted AI programming www.thepythoncodingstack.com/p/doubling-d...

thepythoncodingstack.com

Doubling Down on Python in The Age of AI

…and why you haven’t seen AI posts on here (yet)

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 24/04/2026

What’s the one feature you’d mention first when describing a `set` in Python. (I bet it’s not the most interesting / powerful feature of sets…)

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 24/04/2026

Doubling Down on Python in The Age of AI I've been missing from The Python Coding Stack for a few weeks – but I'm back now. Like many, I've been thinking a lot about programming and Python in the age of AI. Here are my thoughts at present www.thepythoncodingstack.com/p/doubling-d...

Doubling Down on Python in the Age of AI - person holding a pair of glasses look at a cloudy sky

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 21/04/2026

The real strength of AI tools (for me) is being able to do things I’d otherwise not have time to do myself—stuff that would never have happened otherwise

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 09/04/2026

I just paid £10 for a free show—and I feel I underpaid I was doing the tourist trail in London with a visitor. We watched a street performer in Covent Garden. He was good. He clearly was a master at his trade. Experienced. Professional. …

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 30/03/2026

There's never been a better time to learn core Python. Sure, AI is writing code for us now. But you still need to understand it, review it, guide the AI to what you really want English is great but can be ambiguous. A glance at the Python code… /1

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 03/04/2026

OK - I've taken the plunge (finally, some will say). I set up OpenClaw. Burnt through quite a few tokens today but I feel I made progress and I can start to see where it's going… …and now I see why people go for a decent computer and open models…

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 03/04/2026

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 02/04/2026

What’s your favourite “Getting Started” resource for effectively using OpenClaw? I’ve got some catching up to do…

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 28/03/2026

There are two types of people today: • Those who are learning Python • Those who think it’s no longer necessary We can’t know which one of them is right. But I’m in no doubt which one is taking the bigger risk…

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 30/03/2026

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 28/03/2026

By the way, can you guess how many slides I use in an eight-week course, with 3.5 hours of live teaching each week?

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 28/03/2026

A few more: "Content, professionalism of presentation, structure, the charisma and skill of our live instructor were all absolutely first-rate, world class." "Our instructor was flat out one of the best teachers I've encountered" ...

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 28/03/2026

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 28/03/2026

By the way, can you guess how many slides I use in an eight-week course, with 3.5 hours of live teaching each week?

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 27/03/2026

Join me for this Intermediate Deep Dive Course–starting in May. Any questions, just ask…

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Real Python @realpython.com · 27/03/2026

AI raises the floor for Python developers. It doesn't raise the ceiling. The ceiling is yours to raise: realpython.com/workshops/in...

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 27/03/2026

"Shiny New Toy Syndrome" isn't about shifting focus to the new thing but about completely abandoning the old thing… We see a lot of shiny new toy syndrome at the moment…

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 27/03/2026

I'm normally more reserved, but… feedback started coming in and I can't help sharing some ego-boosting (inflating?) feedback "Stephen is great, I would enjoy any live courses he taught" "Stephen was great. Very knowledgeable and able to adapt to questions as they arose. Absolutely excellent"

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 27/03/2026

Milestone (1) and Milestone (2) • Dictionary definitions: 1. Milestone (noun) • a stone set up beside a road to mark the distance in miles to a particular place. (Oxford Dictionary (UK) via Apple Dictionary) …

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 06/03/2026

It's the 3-year anniversary of The Python Coding Stack in a month's time… …should I bake a cake? Sure, there are publications with tens or hundreds of thousands of readers. But I'm pleased that nearly 7,000 people like my quirky writing and unconventional perspectives

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 16/03/2026

One of the trickiest topics out there (I think), so I thought of giving it The Python Coding Stack treatment to make some sense of it: The Weird and Wonderful World of Descriptors in Python • Let’s demystify one of the trickiest topics around www.thepythoncodingstack.com/p/python-des...

thepythoncodingstack.com

The Price is Right • From Properties to Descriptors

The Weird and Wonderful World of Descriptors in Python • Let’s demystify one of the trickiest topics around

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Stephen Gruppetta @stephengruppetta.com · 20/03/2026

I used this animation to explain `typing.Protocol` in a teaching session today. Life doesn't have to be boring…

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