Yay Python!

I first met Ola Sitarska and Ola Sendecka at DjangoCon Europe 2013 in Warsaw. They were simply known as The Two Olas.

The Olas were the leaders of that year's organisational team and created, without fail or reservation, the best, most inclusive, happiest, most well-organized, relaxed and informative conference I have ever attended.

After the conference, the two of them launched DjangoGirls, an organisation to get more young girls to code with Python and Django. DjangoGirls became an astounding success with workshops all over the world, and has since then been used a template by other successful organisations focusing on increasing diversity in tech. DjangoGirls is a major force now, just look at the list of upcoming events on the home page!

Now these two people, whom I respect a huge deal – did I mention they are also Django core developers? – are writing a book. It is called Yay Python!

A year ago, we wrote and published the Django Girls Tutorial. It's a thoughtful guide on building your own website for people who never wrote a single line of code in their lives. In just a year, this tutorial has been read by almost 100 000 people.

We had an incredible opportunity to see how more than 1 600 women learned to code at our workshops, where 500 mentors from all over the world used our tutorial to help them build a working website in just one day.

Yay Python! is a book where we gather all of that experience, and take you on a beautiful journey in the world of creative technology. Beautifully illustrated, with little quirky exercises & dose of ✨.

You should go to http://yaypython.com right now and subscribe to their email newsletter. I know I'll buy the book sight unseen, simply based on The Olas' previous accomplishments.

Also, it has sparkles!

Update, July 22nd

There is now a video of the Two Olas announcing their book at this years EuroPython. The presentation is really well done and cute, and I love the illustration style. If you're one of those people who have been offended by women entering the tech sphere and having a harder time than the average guy, maybe the tale of Liz the Squirrel will help you change your mind.

Since the video quality is not the best, there are also slides on speakerdeck where you can see the gorgeous art style even better. If this is how the book will look, count me in (again).