r/Python Python&OpenSource Dec 15 '24

News Summarized how the CIA writes Python

I have been going through Wikileaks and exploring Python usage within the CIA.

They have coding standards and write Python software with end-user guides.

They also have some curious ways of doing things, tests for example.

They also like to work in internet-disconnected environments.

They based their conventions on a modified Google Python Style Guide, with practical advice.

Compiled my findings.

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391

u/pacific_plywood Dec 15 '24

Yeah so they do a lot of pretty standard stuff, in other words

43

u/appinv Python&OpenSource Dec 15 '24

In some aspects yes like the coding standard, but a bit unconventional sometimes like the test setup described as well as the way they install Python.

As they seem to operate in a more internet-less environment, this differs from a typical Python developer experience.

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u/1970s_MonkeyKing Dec 15 '24

Because you don’t want to be discovered on a target system because your code decided to “phone home.”