Pylint is a tool for linting code. Linting is the process of checking your code for basic stylistic mistakes. It doesn't verify that your code works, it simply checks that it looks as good as possible and is readable by others.

Black is a really useful code formatting tool maintained by the Python Software Foundation. It reformats files to improve readability.

In order to have the best quality code, it's good to follow some rules that are established for Python coding. Many of these rules are in PEP-8. Some are simply good coding practice, such as using explicit names and including documentation for class functions, while others are syntax related. There are a significant number of Pylint checks. Since it's hard to remember all of them, we use Pylint.

This guide covers getting started with Pylint. You'll learn how to install Pylint, how to configure it to check for only what you want it to, and how to run it. Then you'll see it in action with an example program containing some common errors, and you'll learn how to read the output and fix the errors in your code. This guide also covers getting started with Black. You'll also learn how to verify your code using the Black formatter, and apply Black formatting to your code.

This guide assumes you have installed and worked with Python 3 and pip. If you do not have both installed, please take the time to do so before continuing.

Let's get linting and formatting!