PyConZA 2023 reportback

Kartoza staff members Admire and Eli recently got the chance to attend the annual PyConZA conference in Umhlanga, Durban. This two-day event organised by the Python community, featured outstanding talks and insightful presentations. The hybrid format enabled attendees to join either in person or online, providing the flexibility to engage with both guests and presenters during the conference in person and online.

Admire Nyakudya, one of Kartoza’s resident Python experts, gave a well-attended talk on Leveraging Python in Geospatial Applications. Admire discussed and provided some practical demonstrations on how he uses Python during development and in the geospatial industry to automate repetitive tasks and create custom solutions to resolve challenges related to working in remote environments. Read more about Admire’s ground-breaking work here: Kartoza at PyConZA Durban 2023.

Some of our favourite talks and events included:

1. Supercharge Your Django Apps: Unveiling Performance Secrets with the Magic of Django Silk! - Using Django SIlk to optimise database queries, detect N+1 and other performance issues to improve the performance of your database.
2. River - A Python library that can be used to build an MOA (Massive Online Analysis) framework, enabling users to do machine learning tasks on streaming data.
3. PRQL: A modern language for data transformation - A language specifically designed for data analysts and engineering that combines the elegance of relational algebra with the usability of popular libraries like Pandas, Polars, dplyr, and LINQ, which supports multiple SQL dialects.
4. Toolsmithing: Convenience through code-building tools to automate everyday tasks or fill gaps where existing tools lack functionality, putting the power of convenience back in the user’s hands.

The conference was held at the Premier Splendid Inn Hotel in Umhlanga in the hotel’s conference room on the 10th floor. The large deck attached to the venue had stunning views of Durban’s coastline and was the perfect backdrop for the many interesting talks that were held during the conference. The Kartoza team thoroughly enjoyed the conference. It was a great opportunity to network with the diverse Python community and learn new and interesting ways to use Python to its fullest potential across multiple platforms.