Helpful examples of Django QuerySet & Django, Postgres, Timezones, and You

NOTE: We've changed the location of this meetup to be back in San Francisco so that hopefully more people will be able to attend!

In this month's talk we have two, 30 min talks from engineers at Counsyl.

Talk #1 Counsyl.objects.filter(django_queryset_type=EXAMPLES, helpful=True)

(Helpful examples of Django QuerySet use at Counsyl)

This talk is about advanced use of Django's QuerySet API based on lessons learned at Counsyl. You'll learn how to debug, optimize and use the QuerySet API efficiently. The main examples focus on demystifying how QuerySet maps to SQL and how seemingly simple Python code, presumably fast O(1) queries, can result in unacceptably long runtime and often O(N) or worse queries. Solutions are provided for keeping your Python code simple and RDMS use performant.

Speaker Bio:

Jayson Falker is a software developer for Counsyl. He has an EEN/CS degree and a PhD in Bioinformatics. He is a long-time open-source Linux/Java/Web developer, book author, and presenter. He has focused on proteomics and genomics research since the mid-2000's, including working for a few years at startups and for Dow AgroSciences. Jayson is quick to get his geek on and also loves to build ridiculous side-projects, including a 6' tall Jenga set that weighs 300lbs and mobile apps that give you awesome virtual mustaches.

Talk #2 Django, Postgres, Timezones, and You

Dealing with multiple time zones can be tricky and it is easy to run into problems if you are not careful. This talk explores some of the potiential pitfalls when working with timestamps in Django and Postgres and how to deal with them.

Consider the following code:

dt = datetime.datetime.now()

myobj = MyDjangoModel.objects.create(timestamp=dt)

myobj = MyDjangoModel.objects.get(pk=myobj.pk)

Would you expect that 'myobj.timestamp == dt'? With the default Django settings that is not guaranteed to be the case; come to this talk and find out why.

Speaker Bio:

Dave Peticolas is a software engineer at Counsyl. Prior to that he was a software engineer at Lucasfilm for ten years. He has contributed to numerous open source projects including GnuCash and Twisted, and is the author of a popular introduction to Twisted and asynchronous programming at http://krondo.com (http://krondo.com/).

Schedule:

5:30pm - Check in and socialize. There will be some pizza and drinks provided by Hearsay Social!

6:15pm - Lightning talks if we have any

6:30pm - Jayson's talk

7:00pm - Dave's talk

8:00pm - Time to head home

Notes from Hearsay Social:

• Doors will open at 5:30pm to allow enough time for the check-in process.

• Please update the name on your account to reflect your FIRST NAME and LAST NAME. Hearsay Social Security will be checking IDs at the door. *Please note: You WILL ONLY be allowed into the event if we have your first and last name (that matches the name on your ID) prior to the event.

• Hearsay Social is generously providing us with their venue space. Let's make sure we treat it with respect and clean up after ourselves.

Counsyl

Counsyl is a medical genomics startup in South San Francisco, California. Our goal is to make the human genome practically useful for life- altering decisions.

We invented the Counsyl Test, a breakthrough diagnostic intended for parents planning to start a family. It was featured in the New York Times, named one of Scientific American’s Top 10 World Changing Ideas, and won the Wall Street Journal Innovation Award for Medicine. Our test is now being used for 12% of all carrier screens in the United States.

The cost of sequencing human genomes is plunging - over 5x faster than the cost of computing; the potential impact on preventive healthcare and the medical landscape is boundless. The science is there but the scale isn't. That's where Counsyl comes in. We are building the technology platform to make genomics useful and accessible to everyone.

The vast majority of our operations are powered by our own custom-built infrastructure on a Python/Django/Postgres stack, from ordering to lab processing to billing. We’re building new tools, new workflows, and new infrastructure to solve the challenging problems of a technology startup involved with not just bits, but also interconnected physical components like lab robotics and patient samples.