I wanted to do some kind of reflection this year, so may as well hop on the bandwagon.

What’s the coolest Python application, framework or library you have discovered in 2011?

Fabric. For a good six months of this year, I was managing everything server-wise at my last job through Fabric and learned a good deal about it, hacking in some features and giving a presentation on it at the local Pittsburgh users group. It’s great to be able to automate things and to have that ability in Python.

What new programming technique did you learn in 2011?

I can’t think of a specific area I focused on, but overall: I’ve broaden my knowledge of Python unit testing, deployment, and project packaging. I’ve also ben diving deep into background processing with Celery lately, which really interests me.

What’s the name of the open source project you contributed the most in 2011? What did you do?

Unfortunately, I don’t think I have contributed back too much. Journal, a Python script for keeping a CLI journal, was probably my most complete project for the year, but I haven’t been hacking on it recently. Reaching out more via Github and interacting more with other developers is my goal for next year.

What was the Python blog or website you read the most in 2011?

HackerNews. After moving to San Francisco, getting a job via the monthly job threads, and meeting up with people from the site, I’ve really come to enjoy the dialogue available on programming and Python.

What are the three top things you want to learn in 2012?

• Logging, metrics, and monitoring. Or applying the latest techniques and practices in production: using JSON for logged messages, realtime monitoring and alerting, longterm storage, indexing, and searching.
• A new language. I know a great deal about Python, but it’s time to start fresh. Haskell has always been high on my list, but I’ve never set specific goals and forced myself to start anything. Time to change that.
• More Python? I’ve been diving into packaging once again, but maybe I should try and figure out how to help fix what I don’t like about Python. I’m looking forward to attending PyCon US 2012 this year, hoping to get some great ideas.

What are the top software, app or lib you wish someone would write in 2012?

Unify/fix Python packaging? More Python3 releases? I still need to convert all my scripts to Python3. I have a bunch of Github improvements I’d love see happen, but maybe with the v3 API I can hack them in myself.

Want to do your own list? Here’s how:

• copy-paste the questions and answer to them in your blog
• tweet it with the #2012pythonmeme hashtag