what does 'for _ in range()' mean?

[Heike C. Zimmerer]

Dave Benjamin <ramen at lackingtalent.com> writes:

> In article <2mui6cFq81c0U1 at uni-berlin.de>, Heike C. Zimmerer wrote:
>> Dave Benjamin <ramen at lackingtalent.com> writes:
>> 
>>> In Python, it's possible to use _ multiple times in the same expression,
>> 
>> There is, however, one objection to the use of _ as a placeholder for
>> a dummy variable: it is used by the gettext module.  So if a program
>> may be subject to internationalization, it is advisable to keep this
>> name reserved, or you may run into problems.
>
> Speaking of which, am I the only one here that sees this _() function as a
> total hack? Usually, having a one-character function (and a global one at
> that!) would be considered outrageous,

I agree to some degree.  It's convention, however, and there are
useful tools supporting it.

> and why not have global string
> constants instead of looking up complete sentences as keys in a mapping
> table?

This would mean introducing another level of indirection.  Having the
entire english message inside the program text right where it is used
saves you the need to look it up elsewhere or to guess from the name
what it is supposed to print out.  It's easy to change the text if it
changes its meaning.  You'd have to change both the text and its
descriptive name otherwise.

And the additional effort of looking up the entire text shouldn't be
much of concern; it's usually within an I/O-bound operation.

> Not that I could propose a better solution if you're trying to make
> an already existing, large application multilingual, but still...

Yes.  Not that I couldn't think of a better solution, but for me, it
serves its purpose and it works well.

- Heike