scope of function parameters

[Chris Angelico]

On Mon, May 30, 2011 at 11:31 AM, Ben Finney <ben+python at benfinney.id.au> wrote:
>  <URL:http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/print/93903/I_m_OK_The_Bull_Is_Dead>

I agree with the gist of that. My take on this is: When I'm talking to
my boss, I always assume that the phone will ring ten seconds into my
explanation. Ten seconds is enough for "Dad, I'm OK; the bull is
dead", it's enough for "I've solved Problem X, we can move on now";
it's enough for "Foo is crashing, can't ship till I debug it". If
fortune is smiling on me and the phone isn't ringing, I can explain
that Problem X was the reason Joe was unable to demo his new module,
or that the crash in Foo is something that I know I'll be able to pin
down in a one-day debugging session, but even if I don't, my boss
knows enough to keep going with.

Of course, there's a significant difference between a mailing list
post and a detailed and well copyedited article. Quite frequently I'll
ramble on list, in a way quite inappropriate to a publication that
would be linked to as a "hey guys, here's how it is" page. Different
media, different standards.

Chris Angelico
"Forty thousand million billion THEGS quotes? That must be worth a fortune!"
-- definitely a fan of THEGS --