PyDev of the Week: Karsten Hilbert

This week we welcome Karsten Hilbert as our PyDev of the Week! Karsten took over the GNUmed project, which is a an open source electronic medical record program written mostly in Python. Let's take a few moments to get to know him better!

Can you tell us a little about yourself (hobbies, education, etc):

I am a Medical Doctor in Germany.

Why did you start using Python?

The OSS project I got involved with (GNUmed) was written in Python. When I took over the balance of ease-of-use, clarity and batteries-included felt just right so I stayed with it.

What other programming languages do you know and which is your favorite?

In GNUmed I use, other than Python, the PostgreSQL dialect of SQL, shell scripting, LaTeX, and some ReST.

When I started out programming I mainly used Commodore 64 Basic, a bit of x86 assembler, and later mainly Pascal.

What projects are you working on now?

Software-wise my main project is GNUmed. I have contributed patches and bug reports to quite a few other projects over the years, mainly based on scratching personal itches. Projects I currently contribute to every once in a while in one way or another are TimeLine, Debian, PostgreSQL, and Orthanc.

Which Python libraries are your favorite (core or 3rd party)?

Most Python libraries are quite nice. Likely, the Python paradigm fosters that sort of thing.

Also, I guess wxGlade is somewhat undervalued, which I use a lot as I am not a UI person by any means.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

Users: Go forth and submit quality bug reports !

Developers: Make your code work with Unicode.

Thanks so much!