Kyle, you sounded so reasonable when you were trashing itertools.accumulate (which I now agree is horrible). But then you go and support Serhiy's madness: "smooth_signal = [average for average in [0] for x in signal for average in [(1-decay)*average + decay*x]]" which I agree is clever, but reads more like a riddle than readable code.
Anyway, I continue to stand by: (y:= f(y, x) for x in iter_x from y=initial_y) And, if that's not offensive enough, to its extension: (z, y := f(z, x) -> y for x in iter_x from z=initial_z) Which carries state "z" forward but only yields "y" at each iteration. (see proposal: https://github.com/petered/peps/blob/master/pep-9999.rst) Why am I so obsessed? Because it will allow you to conveniently replace classes with more clean, concise, functional code. People who thought they never needed such a construct may suddenly start finding it indispensable once they get used to it. How many times have you written something of the form?: class StatefulThing(object): def __init__(self, initial_state, param_1, param_2): self._param_1= param_1 self._param_2 = param_2 self._state = initial_state def update_and_get_output(self, new_observation): # (or just __call__) self._state = do_some_state_update(self._state, new_observation, self._param_1) output = transform_state_to_output(self._state, self._param_2) return output processor = StatefulThing(initial_state = initial_state, param_1 = 1, param_2 = 4) processed_things = [processor.update_and_get_output(x) for x in x_gen] I've done this many times. Video encoding, robot controllers, neural networks, any iterative machine learning algorithm, and probably lots of things I don't know about - they all tend to have this general form. And how many times have I had issues like "Oh no now I want to change param_1 on the fly instead of just setting it on initialization, I guess I have to refactor all usages of this class to pass param_1 into update_and_get_output instead of __init__". What if instead I could just write: def update_and_get_output(last_state, new_observation, param_1, param_2) new_state = do_some_state_update(last_state, new_observation, _param_1) output = transform_state_to_output(last_state, _param_2) return new_state, output processed_things = [state, output:= update_and_get_output(state, x, param_1=1, param_2=4) -> output for x in observations from state=initial_state] Now we have: - No mutable objects (which cuts of a whole slew of potential bugs and anti-patterns familiar to people who do OOP.) - Fewer lines of code - Looser assumptions on usage and less refactoring. (if I want to now pass in param_1 at each iteration instead of just initialization, I need to make no changes to update_and_get_output). - No need for state getters/setters, since state is is passed around explicitly. I realize that calling for changes to syntax is a lot to ask - but I still believe that the main objections to this syntax would also have been raised as objections to the now-ubiquitous list-comprehensions - they seem hostile and alien-looking at first, but very lovable once you get used to them. On Sun, Apr 8, 2018 at 1:41 PM, Kyle Lahnakoski <klahnako...@mozilla.com> wrote: > > > On 2018-04-05 21:18, Steven D'Aprano wrote: > > (I don't understand why so many people have such an aversion to writing > > functions and seek to eliminate them from their code.) > > > > I think I am one of those people that have an aversion to writing > functions! > > I hope you do not mind that I attempt to explain my aversion here. I > want to clarify my thoughts on this, and maybe others will find > something useful in this explanation, maybe someone has wise words for > me. I think this is relevant to python-ideas because someone with this > aversion will make different language suggestions than those that don't. > > Here is why I have an aversion to writing functions: Every unread > function represents multiple unknowns in the code. Every function adds > to code complexity by mapping an inaccurate name to specific > functionality. > > When I read code, this is what I see: > > > x = you_will_never_guess_how_corner_cases_are_handled(a, b, c) > > y = > you_dont_know_I_throw_a_BaseException_when_I_do_not_like_your_arguments(j, > k, l) > > Not everyone sees code this way: I see people read method calls, make a > number of wild assumptions about how those methods work, AND THEY ARE > CORRECT! How do they do it!? It is as if there are some unspoken > convention about how code should work that's opaque to me. > > For example before I read the docs on > itertools.accumulate(list_of_length_N, func), here are the unknowns I see: > > * Does it return N, or N-1 values? > * How are initial conditions handled? > * Must `func` perform the initialization by accepting just one > parameter, and accumulate with more-than-one parameter? > * If `func` is a binary function, and `accumulate` returns N values, > what's the Nth value? > * if `func` is a non-cummutative binary function, what order are the > arguments passed? > * Maybe accumulate expects func(*args)? > * Is there a window size? Is it equal to the number of arguments of `func`? > > These are not all answered by reading the docs, they are answered by > reading the code. The code tells me the first value is a special case; > the first parameter of `func` is the accumulated `total`; `func` is > applied in order; and an iterator is returned. Despite all my > questions, notice I missed asking what `accumulate` returns? It is the > unknown unknowns that get me most. > > So, `itertools.accumulate` is a kinda-inaccurate name given to a > specific functionality: Not a problem on its own, and even delightfully > useful if I need it often. > > What if I am in a domain where I see `accumulate` only a few times a > year? Or how about a program that uses `accumulate` in only one place? > For me, I must (re)read the `accumulate` source (or run the caller > through the debugger) before I know what the code is doing. In these > cases I advocate for in-lining the function code to remove these > unknowns. Instead of an inaccurate name, there is explicit code. If we > are lucky, that explicit code follows idioms that make the increased > verbosity easier to read. > > Consider Serhiy Storchaka's elegant solution, which I reformatted for > readability > > > smooth_signal = [ > > average > > for average in [0] > > for x in signal > > for average in [(1-decay)*average + decay*x] > > ] > > We see the initial conditions, we see the primary function, we see how > the accumulation happens, we see the number of returned values, and we > see it's a list. It is a compact, easy read, from top to bottom. Yes, we > must know `for x in [y]` is an idiom for assignment, but we can reuse > that knowledge in all our other list comprehensions. So, in the > specific case of this Reduce-Map thread, I would advocate using the list > comprehension. > > In general, all functions introduce non-trivial code debt: This debt is > worth it if the function is used enough; but, in single-use or rare-use > cases, functions can obfuscate. > > > > Thank you for your time. > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Python-ideas mailing list > Python-ideas@python.org > https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-ideas > Code of Conduct: http://python.org/psf/codeofconduct/ >
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