Piter Py #3: Personal Impressions

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Last weekend marked the third Python developers’ conference in St. Petersburg — Piter Py #3.

The conference spanned three days and was partially conducted in English. Throughout these days, words like "Docker," "Mongo," and "Ansible" were uttered even more frequently than "Python." For the first time, I even heard the term "YAML developers."

The Experience

What impressed me most was the systematic approach of the organizers. In his opening remarks, Grigory said that we wouldn’t be taught here; we’re all grown-up enough to read books and research online. Instead, we gathered to discuss and debate trends in modern development technologies.

Highlights from the Talks

Here are some of the talks that stood out to me:

• “Docker Masterclass for Python Developers”
  Ilya demonstrated live how to work with docker, docker-compose, and docker-machine. While nothing fundamentally new was revealed, I did pick up a few fresh insights. To me, this was the most dynamic talk of the conference.
• “DSL in Python: Why and How?”
  Personally, I’m against creating DSLs for every minor need, and I didn’t miss the chance to express this opinion (thus contributing to the conference’s stated goals). However, tastes differ, and as the saying goes, every programmer must develop their own programming language. Ivan explained how to go about it. Ironically, we may need to create our own SQL dialect for one of our products.
• “Crafting API Documentation in Python Projects Using RAML”
  This was the best presentation by a Russian speaker in English and one of the conference highlights. It provided a well-structured overview of RESTful API methodology. The authors even shared nine questions that can help evaluate your API development approach. My only disappointment? Not a single line of code was shown.
• “Plone 5: All the Content for All the People, All the Time”
  Cris demonstrated how to deliver a presentation. In terms of delivery, this was the best talk in English. While I wasn’t particularly inspired by Plone itself—since I deal with different challenges—I greatly admired the presentation style.
• “Types: Python vs TypeScript”
  As expected, Grigory delivered an excellent talk highlighting the trend of enhancing dynamic languages with static type systems. Tools and methodologies in Python and TypeScript were compared, as well as the complexities of adoption and migration. Of course, Grigory also reminded us about Miller’s wallet.
• “Django Channels: Preparing for an Asynchronous Future”
  This talk was about Django’s bright future—where the 1 HttpRequest → 1 HttpResponse principle becomes obsolete, and tools like celery and Tornado are no longer needed. While the tools are still experimental, the discussion on django-channels sparked lively debates, particularly on whether writing while True: is ever appropriate. It wasn’t boring, to say the least.

Other Recommended Talks

Although I didn’t attend these, they received great feedback from attendees:

• Using GraphQL + Python for Web Development
• Eve: REST API for Humans

I’m now eagerly awaiting the recordings to watch these.

Conversations and Debates

As promised, much of the conference revolved around informal discussions during coffee breaks and beyond.
Topics included:

• Docker: amazing, already in production.
• aiohttp: also in production.
• Python 3: growing, but Python 2 isn’t dead yet.
• Ansible: awesome.
• Chef and Puppet: outdated; SaltStack: uncertain.
• Angular: dead; React: not great but in use.
• Nginx: excellent; Apache: sticky for some.
• MongoDB: cool.
• Docker: amazing (yes, it was discussed a lot).

Evening discussions moved to the bar, becoming more international and covering everything from motorbikes to tractors. I left relatively early, but I heard these gatherings lasted quite late.

A Shift Towards English

Initially, I doubted the idea of a partially English-language conference. I thought most people would shy away from speaking. To my surprise, many attendees were willing to break through the language barrier, driven by their passion for the subject. Imagine someone criticizing your favorite technology—wouldn’t you argue back, no matter your language skills?

Although there was plenty of “let me speak from my heart” moments (guilty as charged), no one judged, and it turned out to be an effective format. I now believe a fully English-language Piter Py is a viable idea.

The Finale

The conference concluded with the traditional fountain jumping in the 300th Anniversary Park of St. Petersburg—though I only heard about this secondhand.

Day three included cultural activities: visits to Pushkin and Catherine Palace, discussions on drones, GUID uniqueness, and country house projects. I also spent some time with a Haskell developer who uses it for web development, leaving me with an irresistible urge to study Haskell. Hopefully, I’ll overcome the high learning curve by the next holiday.

Looking Ahead

I’m eager to attend the next Piter Py conference, regardless of whether it’s in English or not, or what talks are announced. It’s an incredible opportunity to connect with inspiring people and gain fresh perspectives. These conversations push us to learn and grow—and isn’t that how we become better?

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python meetup st. petersburg piterpy