globals accros modules

[Robert Kern]

Stef Mientki wrote:
> Bruno Desthuilliers wrote:

>> Unless you clearly explain the benefits... Any code relying on the 
>> existence of a global is:
>> 1/ dependent on the existence of this global
>> 2/ harder to understand
> And you think physicians will believe that ?
> And suppose they believe it, are the willing to stop their research to 
> rethink and rewrite their code ;-)

If they give a damn about their research, they will. Sloppy, irreproducible lab
technique is not acceptable. Sloppy, impossible-to-verify code shouldn't be, either.

I'd say more, but Greg Wilson has said it better, and has provided course
materials to teach good programming practices to scientists.

  http://swc.scipy.org/

Of particular note are his article in the _American Scientist_:

  http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/48548

and his slides from his talk at SciPy '06:

  http://www.third-bit.com/lectures/scipy06.pdf

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
 that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
 an underlying truth."
  -- Umberto Eco