[Python-Dev] on Python's tests (and making them better)

[Cameron Simpson]

On 07Jun2008 13:24, Steven D'Aprano <steve at pearwood.info> wrote:
| On Sat, 7 Jun 2008 07:32:40 am Martin v. Löwis wrote:
| > Flat is better than nested,
| > and adding hierarchy will make it *more* difficult to find anything
| > (except perhaps for the one person who did the rearrangement).
| 
| Do you have a filing cabinet with everything filed under "F" for File? 
| *wink*

No, but I always want to put things in more than one folder in my filing
cabinet, and cannot. Choosing a primary axis for organisation can be
arbitrary.

| I've often thought that "Flat is better than nested" was one of the 
| weaker Zens... often good advice, but nearly as often not. Lists of 
| lists and binary trees can be useful. If you've ever used an operating 
| system with a flat file system (and I have) you'll know what a pain it 
| is dealing with the lack of hierarchical directories.

Aye, but I've frequently tripped over people blithely saying "general to
specific" for nesting without realising that the axes were orthoganal,
not inherently nested.

Not arguing for or against, btw.
-- 
Cameron Simpson <cs at zip.com.au> DoD#743
http://www.cskk.ezoshosting.com/cs/