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The Friday Loop

I rarely use dataclasses anymore... | Issue #59

Published about 2 months ago • 1 min read

Hey everyone,

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I was reviewing some of the projects I’ve worked on over the past year, and I noticed something interesting: I almost never use Python’s @dataclass anymore.

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Not because it’s bad. In fact, dataclasses are still a great feature of the language. But as my projects have grown more complex, especially with tools like FastAPI, Pydantic, and SQLAlchemy, I’ve found that dataclasses just… don’t fit the way I design software anymore.

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In my latest video, I dive into this in detail.

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You’ll learn:

  • Why I used to reach for dataclasses all the time — and why I rarely do now
  • The tradeoffs between dataclasses and alternatives like Pydantic models
  • A real-world example using FastAPI, Pydantic, SQLAlchemy, and SQLite, with a clean, maintainable architecture

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Even if you still love dataclasses, this video might give you a new perspective on where they fit best, and when they might be holding you back.

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Happy coding!

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Cheers,

Arjan

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The Friday Loop

by ArjanCodes

Every Friday, you'll get a recap of the most important and exciting Python and coding news. The Friday Loop also keeps everyone posted on new ArjanCodes courses and any limited offers coming up.

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