Why not allow empty code blocks?

[Chris Angelico]

On Mon, Aug 1, 2016 at 10:21 AM,  <bart4858 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Monday, 1 August 2016 00:50:09 UTC+1, Chris Angelico  wrote:
>> On Mon, Aug 1, 2016 at 9:43 AM,  <xxxx at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > On Sunday, 31 July 2016 21:01:52 UTC+1, Michael Torrie  wrote:
>> >
>> >> That said, I wish he'd stop posting his arguments here on this list as
>> >> he clearly doesn't use Python for anything, and hasn't used Python for
>> >> any real amount of coding.  He has no vested interest in Python so why
>> >> should his opinions matter to us?
>> >
>> > What's using Python got to do with it? If I needed to write Python as a job, then I'd just get on with it. I probably wouldn't have time to post on here!
>> >
>> > I don't so can discuss it from a different perspective.
>>
>> I should get into Parliament and start passing laws about cars. I'd
>> have a valuable perspective on it, since I never drive.
>
> Huh? That's exactly what happens! The UK Health Secretary doesn't need to be a doctor; the Chancellor doesn't need an economics degree, etc.

I know. I've watched "Yes Minister" and listened to The Highly
Esteemed Goon Show, both of which (being comedy shows) are highly
accurate representations of Parliament.

> However I do 'drive' as I've been programming for decades. And I can have an opinion about a model of car that I don't normally drive. An opinion which you might well not get from someone who drives that model for a living.
>

So've I, but I don't try to tell the Scheme folks that they need to
change the language. You can have an opinion - but it doesn't make it
worth anything. I have opinions about democracy vs monarchy, about
bacon vs vegetarianism, about Mac OS vs Windows, and about which
Doctor is the best. (Okay, I don't have much of an opinion on the
latter, since there are a number of Doctors that I actually haven't at
all seen. So sue me.) If I try to use a Mac and spend all my time
complaining that it doesn't work the way OS/2 does, will Apple take
notice and change their product, or will people just shout me down for
not learning to use the device how it was meant to be used?

Because that's what's happening here. You're expressing your opinions
- and that's fine. But the response is frequently "play to the
language's strengths", because you don't understand Python enough to
know where to best use its features.

ChrisA