Why and how "there is only one way to do something"?

[Steve Holden]

Tolga wrote:
> As far as I know, Perl is known as "there are many ways to do
> something" and Python is known as "there is only one way". Could you
> please explain this? How is this possible and is it *really* a good
> concept?
> 
Perl's credo is actually "There's more than one way to do it", often 
abbreviated to TMTOWTDI.

(Part of) Python's credo (which you can read in context by typing

     import this

at an interactive command prompt) is "There should be one (and 
preferably only one) way to do it".

Clearly as Python is improved (well, develops, anyway :-) new ways to 
perform old tasks will become possible. So the obvious way to iterate 
over the lines of a text file *used* to be

     while 1:
         line = f.readline()
         if not f:
             break
         # process the line

whereas now it's

     for line in f:
         # process the line

As with all credos this should be approached with a large-ish grain of 
salt and a pragmatic air. As with all Zen knowledge it's important to 
avoid taking the Zen too literally, otherwise it may be necessary to hit 
you on the side of the head with a stick to get you moving back towards 
enlightenment <0.8 wink>.

We try not to be rude to perlmongers on this group. After all, they have 
come much closer to world domination than we have so far, and they can't 
help their peculiar penchant for coding in what looks like line noise. 
[As you can see it's OK to poke a bit of good-humoured fun at them from 
time to time].

Overall Python emphasises two things, readability and comprehensibility, 
as primary values. Readability, comprehensibility and a welcoming 
approach to newcomers ...

regards
  Steve
-- 
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