On 6 August 2016 at 03:14, Steven D'Aprano <steve+pyt...@pearwood.info> wrote: > On Sat, 6 Aug 2016 08:00 am, Marco Sulla wrote: >> I'm referring to: >> * `except` instead of `catch` > > Because this isn't a game of "catch the ball". They're called "exceptions", > not "catchions". You *try* something, and if an *exception* happens, the > except block runs.
So if I try to pick up a girl, I have to knock back the refuse? >> * `self` instead of `this` (I know, it's not enforced, but it's a de >> facto standard and some IDEs like PyDev gives you an error if you >> declare a non-static method without `self` as first parameter) > > Because "this" is a stupid name. > > In English, we refer to ourselves in the first person as I, me, myself, and > sometimes "self", never as "this". One can say "this one has a hat", for > example, but it sounds weird, like something the Borg would say about a > specific Borg unit. It's simply a matter of point of view. In the point of view of class, you are referring to the class itself, so "self" it's a good word. >From the point of view of the programmer, you're referring to this class, so "this" is a good word as well. I don't see a semantic advantage of "self". >> * `dict` instead of `map` > > Because "map" is a piece of paper showing a visual representation of a > territory, and a dict (dictionary) is a set of words (the keys) followed by > their definitions (the values). If map is only a piece of paper, dictionary is only a book, isn't it? Dictionary is a book, and inside it there's a set of words followed by their definitions, as you said. Map is a piece of paper, and every element of the map represent some other element, in a 1-1 relationship. >> * `str.strip()` instead of `str.trim()` > > Because "trim" is a stupid name for stripping whitespace from the ends of a > string. When you trim hair or a plant, you unconditionally cut it and make > it shorter. Not at all. "trim" word is used when you have to remove something that is useless, usually. On the contrary, "strip" can be used also in other means. >> * `True`, `False` and None instead of `true`, `false` and `none` (they >> seems classes) > > You'd have to ask other languages why they use 'true', 'false' and 'none' > (they seem like ordinary variables). I think you find the reason. Not sure it was a good idea (also vim has syntax highlighting). >> * and furthermore much abbreviation, like `str` instead of `string` >> and `len()` instead of `length()`, that seems to contrast with the >> readability goal of Python. > > Just because something is short doesn't make it less readable. According to > Wolfram Alpha, the average length of words in English is 5.1 characters: > > http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=average+english+word+length > > but of the ten most common words themselves, nine are of three or fewer > characters: > > "the of to and a in is it you that" And according to Wolfram Alpha, the readability of Huckleberry Finn is 5.5. I think it doesn't fit in this discussion in the same way :P -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
