Every once in a while, it’s good to revisit the principles that guide Python’s design and philosophy. One of the most iconic expressions of these principles is “The Zen of Python” by Tim Peters. If you haven’t read it in a while, it might be worth taking a moment to appreciate the simplicity and wisdom it contains.

To view “The Zen of Python,” open a Python interpreter and enter:

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>>> import this

Here’s what you’ll see:

The Zen of Python, by Tim Peters

• Beautiful is better than ugly.
• Explicit is better than implicit.
• Simple is better than complex.
• Complex is better than complicated.
• Flat is better than nested.
• Sparse is better than dense.
• Readability counts.
• Special cases aren’t special enough to break the rules.
• Although practicality beats purity.
• Errors should never pass silently.
• Unless explicitly silenced.
• In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess.
• There should be one—and preferably only one—obvious way to do it.
• Although that way may not be obvious at first unless you’re Dutch.
• Now is better than never.
• Although never is often better than right now.
• If the implementation is hard to explain, it’s a bad idea.
• If the implementation is easy to explain, it may be a good idea.
• Namespaces are one honking great idea—let’s do more of those!

The Zen of Python encapsulates the values that make Python such a delightful programming language. It’s about simplicity, clarity, and pragmatism. Whether you’re new to Python or a seasoned developer, keeping these principles in mind can help guide you to write better, more maintainable code.