Automating your life with Python
Priyansh Jain (~Presto412) |
Description:
Automation is something we all desire, may it be the twitter feed of a celebrity, or perhaps the latest price of bitcoin. For students, it can range from tracking assignment deadlines or message updates. For developers, it can be the tracking of an important issue or auto merging of pull requests. For management, deadlines for a work assignment or a due presentation. With Python, everything listed above is possible.
The talk will feature how to start automating the small things that can prove highly productive. We will use simple libraries first, and this will be followed by using fully headless browsers like selenium and understanding the concepts of web crawling. Integration of API services like Google Calendar and Google keep, to sync all the data collected will be demonstrated. Finally, we will deep dive into an interesting open-source project I made, and how I have automated most of my college work. A simple breakdown of the talk is described as follows.<br>
- __REST API Introduction__(Totally 3 minutes)
- __Libraries we will use__ (Totally 6 minutes)
- The Requests library
- The BeautifulSoup library
- __Web Scraping example for IMDb__ (Totally 4 minutes)
- Code and Logic walkthrough
- Running Example
- __Automation Example__(Totally 10 minutes)
- What we will be doing
- The Code
- Google API linking
- Cron/Scheduling
- The base logic
- Running Example
- __Selenium__(Totally 5 minutes)
- Introduction
- Example
- __Conclusion, Ethics and My work__(Totally 2 minutes)<br>
The automation example will use an example of the meetup website. Inputs to the script may comprise keywords, dates, or other stuff among all. The Python script demonstrated will practically grab all the meetups that meet the desired conditions. The script will then be scheduled as a cron-scheduling job, and the user will get the meet-ups synced and updated with their Google Calendar every unit of their scheduling time. The dates of the event and a short description will be synced.
This will be followed by a brief introduction to Selenium, which can be used on websites that are difficult to scrape through. A short example will also be shown.
The conclusion will take care of the ethics to follow, and when things can go wrong, and some best practices, followed by which I will explain the stuff I have done in relation to this field.
Prerequisites:
Basic understanding of REST APIs and Frameworks, and Beginner-Intermediate Level of Python Programming
Content URLs:
Some draft slides can be found here
Speaker Info:
CS Undergrad, at Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore (Batch of 2020). Passionate developer, with specialization in Python scripting, Backend Web Development, and Blockchain Frameworks like Hyperledger Fabric and Ethereum. Presently, hold the positions of Blockchain Intern at Skcript, Senior Backend Developer at IEEE-Computer Society VIT Vellore Chapter, and Backend Developer at CollegeCODE, a student-created organization that has apps on both Android and iOS platforms. Technical Writer, and have authored multiple articles on major sites like Medium and Dev.to. Speaker at Tech Meetups. Very recently spoke at a Gopher meetup.
Developed an interest in Python since 2016. Have used Python for general scripting and automation of tasks, along with Desktop Software Development. Actively contribute on open source platforms like Github, and love to discuss anything Python.
Speaker Links:
Some Interesting Open Source Python Projects
Some interesting articles I authored<br>