Python is readable

[MRAB]

On 31/03/2012 06:56, Lie Ryan wrote:
> On 03/18/2012 12:36 PM, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
>>  On Sat, 17 Mar 2012 20:59:34 +0100, Kiuhnm wrote:
>>  In the second example, most English speakers would intuit that "print(i)"
>>  prints i, whatever i is.
>
> There are two points where the code may be misunderstood, a beginner may
> think that "print i" prints to the inkjet printer (I remembered
> unplugging my printer when I wrote my first BASIC program for this
> reason); and the possible confusion of whether "print i" prints the
> letter "i" or the content of variable "i". (Fortunately, this confusion
> are easily resolved when I run the code and see the result on-screen
> instead of a job on the print spooler)
>
> (ironically, although print is nowadays a programming jargon for
> outputting to screen, but in the old dark ages, people used to use the
> "print" statement to print to paper in their old terminal)
>
I remember a review of a machine back in the early 1980s or late 1970s.
The machine used BASIC, but the reviewer was surprised when the printer
sprang into life. "PRINT" meant "send to printer"; in order to 'print'
to the screen you used "DISPLAY". (The more common method was to use
"LPRINT" for sending to the printer.)