python coding contest

[Remi Villatel]

Christian Tismer wrote:

>>> I feel that python is more beautiful and readable, even if you write
>>> short programs.

> Looking at what I produced the last days, I'm not convinced...

Me neither. Especially since I've taken the one-liner road. Python can 
be very unreadable... sometimes.

> And that's what puzzled me a bit about the approach and the intent
> of this contest: Should this evolute into a language war about
> goals (shortness, conciseness, brevity, whatnot) that Python
> doesn't have as its main targets?

Maybe to prove to the others that Python is a "real" language that can 
produce "uglinesses" too?

> Sure, I see myself hacking this unfortunate little 7-seg code
> until it becomes unreadable for me, the trap worked for me,
> but why do I do this???

For the pleasure of twisting your mind in every possible way, for the 
challenge, for the luxury price if you win? Whatever... I'm trapped too 
and I can't give any reason off the top of my head.

	[---CUT---]
> I think it is legal to use any standard pre-installed package you
> like, if it belongs to the set of default batteries included.
	[---CUT---]

If you use more than the built-ins, you've already lost. It costs you at 
least 9 bytes, well, 10 since I don't know any module with a 
single-letter name.

"\t"+"import"+" "+name_of_module+"\n"

And knowing how much I struggled to remove the last 10 bytes I removed 
from my code, the idea doesn't sound very attractive.

> After all, I'd really love to set up another contest with
> different measures and criteria.

Go on! I don't think that "shortest code" is a very pythonic goal if you 
count in bytes. The same contest with the length of the code measured in 
  "pythonic units" would be better. When I say "pythonic unit", I mean 
to count 1 unit for each variable, literal, operator or key-word. That 
would be more pythonic.

...but maybe less challenging. To try to do with Python things it wasn't 
meant to do is more "fun" for a contest.  ;-)

-- 
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Remi Villatel
maxilys_ at _tele2.fr
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