12 Years of Pylint - Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Bugs

Explore a comprehensive overview of Pylint, one of the oldest static analysis tools for Python, in this 36-minute EuroPython Conference talk. Delve into Pylint's capabilities as both a style checker enforcing PEP 8 rules and a powerful code checker. Learn how it detects simple bugs like unused variables and imports, as well as more complex issues such as invalid function arguments and incomplete special method implementations. Examine the tool's inference engine, understanding of logical program flow, and type hinting techniques, including PEP 484 support. Discover how Pylint's abstract syntax tree analysis, node transforms, and custom inference rules contribute to its effectiveness. Gain insights into Pylint's pattern matching over AST nodes, visitor pattern implementation, and abstract interpretation. Explore additional features like the Python 3 porting checker and compare Pylint with similar tools. Conclude with a glimpse into Pylint's future developments and how it can help eliminate bugs in your Python codebase.