--- title: "Seth Black: Python Coding Expert" description: "Seth Black is a Python coding expert with twenty-five years of Python in production: web apps, data, machine learning and the databases under them. Essays, free tools, books and consulting." image: "https://www.sethserver.com/static/images/sethserver-og-image.png" --- Seth Black # Twenty-five years of Python. I'm a professional nerd. I've written Python since the late nineties: web backends, data pipelines, machine learning, and the unglamorous work of keeping all of it running in production. The essays, free tools and books here are what I've learned. I also take on a few consulting clients at a time. Sign up to get weekly startup insights delivered to your inbox. Python LLMs & Agents Production deploys Databases Python consulting ![](https://www.sethserver.com/static/images/PaperAirplane512.png) Essays, articles & guides ## Notes from the production trenches. [All articles](https://www.sethserver.com/all-posts.html) [![A blue retro toy robot in a coral leather apron works as a farrier beside a brown horse, holding a hammer in one hand and a horseshoe in the other, with an anvil and spare horseshoes on the ground and a black Model T in the distance.](https://cdn.sethserver.com/blog-images/the-good-farriers-kept-their-jobs-social-1794324206-f5.webp) AI Updated November 11, 2026 ### How to be a Good Farrier: What the Car Teaches Us About AI and Your Job In 1899 the New York Times called the automobile "unutterably ugly" and a livery stable owner told the Park Board cars were "too costly for the ordinary person." By 1930 there were 26.7 million of them. I went through the old newspapers, the Census tables and the current AI numbers side by side. The arguments are the same, the curve is the same, and the people who lost their jobs were not the ones who were great at them. Read on](https://www.sethserver.com/ai/how-to-be-a-good-farrier.html) [![Close-up of an old mechanical combination lock whose dials mostly spin freely except for a few stuck tumblers, dramatic side lighting, dark background with subtle blue and amber accents, no text, no logos, no people](https://cdn.sethserver.com/blog-images/password-generator-53-bits-of-entropy-social-1789663796.webp) Security ### My Password Generators Had 53 Bits of Entropy September 17, 2026](https://www.sethserver.com/security/password-generator-53-bits-of-entropy.html) [![A blue robot with round eyes and segmented arms sits at a wooden table, appearing to process or handle an hourglass-shaped item in front of its mint-green control panel chest. Behind the robot are three wooden shelves lined with identical hourglass icons in a repeating pattern against a purple gradient background.](https://cdn.sethserver.com/blog-images/productizing-a-service-from-hours-to-licenses-social.webp) Startups ### Productizing a Service: From Hours to Licenses September 17, 2026](https://www.sethserver.com/startups/productizing-a-service-from-hours-to-licenses.html) [Startups ### What Actually Goes in a Consulting Contract September 17, 2026 Read →](https://www.sethserver.com/startups/what-actually-goes-in-a-consulting-contract.html) [Startups ### The Startup Founder Operating System: Weekly and Monthly Reviews September 17, 2026 Read →](https://www.sethserver.com/startups/the-startup-founder-operating-system.html) [Startups ### Writing for the Crawlers That Are Crawling for AI September 17, 2026 Read →](https://www.sethserver.com/startups/writing-for-the-crawlers-that-are-crawling-for-ai.html) Free assessments ## How's your stack, *really*? Quick, honest diagnostics for developers and founders. Answer a few pointed questions, get a custom-written analysis with hand-picked reading from twenty-plus years of getting it wrong (and occasionally right). [View all 16 assessments](https://www.sethserver.com/assessments/) [![Is Your App Production-Ready?](https://www.sethserver.com/static/images/assessments/production-ready-square.webp) ### Is Your App Production-Ready? A quick diagnostic to see if your app is ready to ship or if you're about to learn some expensive lessons. Take assessment →](https://www.sethserver.com/assessments/production-ready) [![How Mature Is Your AI Coding Practice?](https://www.sethserver.com/static/images/assessments/ai-coding-maturity-square.webp) ### How Mature Is Your AI Coding Practice? Are you actually getting smarter with AI, or just moving faster toward the same mistakes? Take assessment →](https://www.sethserver.com/assessments/ai-coding-maturity) [![What's Your Actual Python Level?](https://www.sethserver.com/static/images/assessments/python-level-square.webp) ### What's Your Actual Python Level? No trick questions, no LeetCode - just a straight read on where you actually are. Take assessment →](https://www.sethserver.com/assessments/python-level) [![Is Your Startup Actually Flailing?](https://www.sethserver.com/static/images/assessments/startup-flailing-square.webp) ### Is Your Startup Actually Flailing? A brutally honest check on whether you're building a business or just delaying the inevitable. Take assessment →](https://www.sethserver.com/assessments/startup-flailing) [![Startup Red Flags Checklist](https://www.sethserver.com/static/images/assessments/startup-red-flags-square.webp) ### Startup Red Flags Checklist Run this before you sign the offer letter. Some of these you can't unsee. Take assessment →](https://www.sethserver.com/assessments/startup-red-flags) [![How Secure Is Your AI Stack?](https://www.sethserver.com/static/images/assessments/ai-security-square.webp) ### How Secure Is Your AI Stack? AI systems have a whole new category of security problems. Do you know where yours are? Take assessment →](https://www.sethserver.com/assessments/ai-security) Books by Seth ## Practical books for the founder who shipped first and asked questions later. ![Databases in the Era of AI](https://www.sethserver.com/static/images/book/databases-cover.webp) New · Available now ### Databases in the Era of AI A practical guide to data architecture for small teams. You added AI features and got told you need a vector database, a graph database, and three new systems to run them. You don't. Start with one relational database, add pgvector, and stay on the short path — with the exact thresholds for when to add each piece. [Get the book — $4.77](https://www.sethserver.com/books/databases-in-the-era-of-ai) [or read 3 chapters free →](https://www.sethserver.com/books/databases-in-the-era-of-ai/free-chapters) Was $9.99 · instant PDF delivery ![From Replit to Production](https://www.sethserver.com/static/images/book/book-cover-mockup.webp) Available now ### From Replit to Production The founder's guide to deploying AI-coded apps. No DevOps background required. A simple, repeatable workflow that gets your AI-coded app from prototype to real users — without the 47-step Kubernetes detour. [Get the book](https://www.sethserver.com/books/replit-to-production) [or read 3 chapters free →](https://www.sethserver.com/books/replit-to-production/free-chapters) Seth Black Assume It Will Fail. A field guide to AI security Vol. II · 2026 Coming late 2026 ### Assume It Will Fail A field guide to AI security for the people actually shipping it. Prompt injection, leaked secrets, jailbroken agents, runaway tool calls — AI systems have a whole new category of security problems. This is the book I wish existed before I had to learn each one the hard way. [Join the waitlist](https://www.sethserver.com/books/assume-it-will-fail) Seth Black The Augmented Founder. Build and scale with AI Vol. III · 2026 Coming 2026 ### The Augmented Founder How to build, ship, and scale with AI as your strategic force multiplier. A practical playbook for founders using AI across product, ops, and growth without turning their company into an automation-shaped mess. [Join the waitlist](https://www.sethserver.com/books/the-augmented-founder) ![](https://www.sethserver.com/static/images/PaperAirplane512.webp) ![](https://www.sethserver.com/static/images/PaperAirplane512.webp) The newsletter ## Practical AI & startup advice. No fluff, no upsells. New essays every few days. Mostly Python, AI, databases, and the not-so-glamorous middle of running software in production. ```json {"@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [{"@type": "Person", "@id": "https://www.sethserver.com/#seth", "name": "Seth Black", "url": "https://www.sethserver.com/", "image": "https://www.sethserver.com/static/images/sethserver-og-image.png", "jobTitle": "Python coding expert and consultant", "description": "Seth Black has written Python in production for twenty-five years: web apps, data, machine learning and the databases under them.", "knowsAbout": ["Python", "Databases", "Machine learning", "AI-assisted coding", "SEO", "Startups"], "sameAs": ["https://www.linkedin.com/in/seth-black-tx", "https://github.com/sethblack", "https://twitter.com/sethblack"]}, {"@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://www.sethserver.com/#website", "name": "sethserver", "url": "https://www.sethserver.com/", "description": "Essays, free tools, books and consulting from Seth Black.", "inLanguage": "en", "publisher": {"@id": "https://www.sethserver.com/#seth"}, "author": {"@id": "https://www.sethserver.com/#seth"}}]} ```