Q: What does "Sparse is better than dense" mean? (Python Zen)

[jepler at unpythonic.net]

On Thu, Jul 11, 2002 at 04:30:59PM -0700, Andrae Muys wrote:
> aahz at pythoncraft.com (Aahz) wrote in message news:<agkj5s$gka$1 at panix1.panix.com>...
> > In article <33803989.0207110328.5ef01f1e at posting.google.com>,
> > Miki Tebeka <tebeka at cs.bgu.ac.il> wrote:
> > >
> > >Although it's in the Humor section I take the Python Zen
> > >(http://www.python.org/doc/Humor.html#zen) quite seriously.
> > >However I can understand what does “Sparse is better than
> > >dense” means.
> > 
> > To rephrase the dictum another way, "Don't try to stick too much code on
> > one line."
> 
> Well seeing as we are discussing Python Zen, the one I don't currently
> understand is "Flat is better than Nested".  I had always thought the

Nested is
    A
	B
	    C
		D

flat is
    A
	B
	C
	D

Python has lots of namespaces, but they're relatively flat.  Usually,
module->class->function or module->function, but with nested_scopes
sometimes an additional level of function is seen.

That's my take on it ...

Jeff