checking if a list is empty

[rusi]

On May 22, 1:11 am, Terry Reedy <tjre... at udel.edu> wrote:

> I agree that the domain of a function should be defined from the start
> (and only expanded in the future).

I dont understand...
I dont always write correct code -- otherwise called 'a bug' -- though
I never let the damn bug lose intentionally.
And when I see 'the bug' scampering around to my distress the only way
of catching it sometimes is to strengthen an (perhaps earlier
unthought, unspecified) invariant or precondition.
Which amounts to contracting the domain.

> This is a somewhat crazy thing to do and if Python developers
> did something like that in the stdlib, I would expect multiple protest
> posting ;-).

That such protests happen is evidence (I dont say proof) that such
contractions are sometimes necessary.   In fact when I pick up some
code marked as 'alpha' I understand it as saying:
Please try this and send us (the developers) bug reports. But in no
case are we committed to the current API.
[Sometimes this is explicitly said. It is always implied by the
'alpha']

When I see 'Beta' I understand: We think this works and we will not
make gratuitous changes but no guarantees.

When I see 'Stable' I understand: The API is fixed (ie we will not
change it) and we accept the inevitable consequence [Seventh Lehman-
Belady law:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehman%27s_laws_of_software_evolution ]

Why is the C library in linux called libc6 and not just libc?