Future of the Python Linux Distribution

[Ivan Van Laningham]

Hi All--

Vetle Roeim wrote:
> 
[snip]

> anyway; many programmers are _not_ engineers. they may have learned
> programming on their spare time, and therefore approach programming in a
> different way.
> 
> I'm not saying people without degrees are stupid, but programming is a lot
> of things. It is an art, a science, a hobby, and engineering.
> 
> Sometimes an engineer is needed. Not an artist.

Ah, and sometimes an artist, or an anthropologist, is needed.  Not an
engineer.  I've seen entirely too many times when an engineer (no, not a
great engineer) is all to ready to tell you that something can't be
done.  Or to dismiss an alternative way of looking at things, on the
grounds that "it's not good engineering" or "it's not elegant."

Sometimes, true, art needs more engineering.  Sometimes engineering
needs more art.  There's too goddam little attention paid to aesthetics
in programming, if you ask me.  But Python not only makes things happen,
it makes them happy too.
> 
> > Secondly;
> >
> > def hash_coerce(l):
> >     d={}
> >     map(lambda x,d=d: apply(lambda k,v,d=d:d.update({k:v}),
> >                             string.split(x,'.')),
> >         l)
> >     return d
> >
> > map, lambda, apply, filter.  Obfuscation at your fingertips. :-) Using
> > {}.update(), I believe it's possible to write programs that use only
> > expressions; no statements.
> 

<i-rest-my-case>-ly y'rs,
Ivan
----------------------------------------------
Ivan Van Laningham
Axent, Inc.
http://www.pauahtun.org and
http://www.foretec.com/python/workshops/1998-11/proceedings.html
Army Signal Corps:  Cu Chi, Class of '70
Author:  Teach Yourself Python in 24 Hours