WTFPython – Understanding Python through surprising snippets

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 10:35 AM UTC

jakear wrote: post #8

My biggest complaint about Python is that it somehow doesn’t get flak for having the same (if not worse) scoping as JS, which gets endless hate for its function-scoped variables. (So much so that block scoped variables are the new normal in JS, but not in Py!) Take for instance: >>> powers_of_x = [lambda x: x^i for i in range(10)] >>> [f(2) for f in powers_of_x] [512, 512, 512, 512, 512, 512, 512, 512, 512, 512] To m…

Post by BiteCode_dev » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 10:42 AM UTC

jakear wrote: post #87

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #31

It's a good repo, but remember a lot of those are "A Good Thing™". The first snippet is a very good example: a := "wtf_walrus" doesn't work while: (a := "wtf_walrus") works. It's a fantastic design decision. Python took a long time before getting this operator, because it's a language that favors being readable, easy to use, and above all, to learn. But in many other languages, the very same operator is often misused…

Why should people only use it when necessary? Why not say “the walrus operator is the exact same as the assignment operator, but it can be used in expressions and thus is spelled a bit differently in order to better distinguish it from the equality operator. Feel free to use it in all places you’d previously use the assignment operator.”. Simple, easy to understand, easy to learn, and most importantly (though python…

    while (foo = bar):

    while (foo == bar):

Post by d33 » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 10:53 AM UTC

rvanlaar wrote: post #74

Python 3 supports typing. The integration with VSCode is also nice. The following is valid typed code and my personal favorite WTF: def func() -> int: return True Because: https://github.com/satwikkansal/wtfpython/blob/master/README... I understand the decision that was made in the python 2 era. Nowadays Boolean shouldn't be a subtype of `int`. It goes against the zen of python: - Explicit is better than implicit. It…

Post by FartyMcFarter » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 11:05 AM UTC

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #95

xscott wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand why people are willing to defend it or make apologies for it, but there really are some lessons to be learned from the mistakes it made, and dismissing legitimate criticism just ignores the opportunity.

I agree, there is a long list of things I would change in Python. And believe me when I say people involved in the community listen to this very carefully. This is why we had Python 3 in the first place. Because text handling was such a cause of pain. This is why we have type hints in the first place. Because big projects using Python felt let down. And Python 3 and type hints are also a huge source of criticism (I w…

Post by jakear » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 11:20 AM UTC

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #94

jakear wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should people only use it when necessary? Why not say “the walrus operator is the exact same as the assignment operator, but it can be used in expressions and thus is spelled a bit differently in order to better distinguish it from the equality operator. Feel free to use it in all places you’d previously use the assignment operator.”. Simple, easy to understand, easy to learn, and most importantly (though python…

> Why should people only use it when necessary? Because we have experience with things such as easy of learning, cognitive load, writing simple to read code, making it hard to introduce bugs... This comment show how little experience one can have with it, and yet make a quick judgment to offer to "fix" things. E.G: > eel free to use it in all places you’d previously use the assignment operator.”. Simple, easy to unde…