[python-advocacy] example code

[Ray Allen]

Thanks for the comments.  Taking them onboard, we'd end up with the
following..

"""Example Python Program"""

import random

# Create  list
python = ["Easy to read",
"Fast to code",
"Quick to learn",
"Modular and object oriented"]

# Append list
python.append("Open source and cross platform")

# Shuffle list
random.shuffle(python)

# Loop list
print "Python is ... "
for index, each in enumerate(python):
    print index + 1, each

print "Discover more at http://www.python.org"

It's fewer lines than many 'helloworld!' examples in other languages, but it
demonstrates a few good features without confusing anybody.

2009/11/12 Carl Karsten <carl at personnelware.com>

> 2009/11/12 Tarek Ziadé <ziade.tarek at gmail.com>:
> > On Thu, Nov 12, 2009 at 3:39 PM, Ray Allen <rayallen153 at googlemail.com>
> wrote:
> > [..]
> >>
> >> # Loop through list
> >> count = 1
> >> print "Python is ... "
> >> for each in python:
> >>     print count,each
> >>     count += 1
> >
> > I'd replace this bloc by:
> >
> > # Loop through list
> > print "Python is ... "
> > for index, each in enumerate(python):
> >    print index + 1, each
> >
> > (using enumerate is much more pythonic than using a count variable)
>
> I would avoid the counter.
>
> I learned to iterate a list by using a counter as an index into the
> list.  When I was shown that I didn't need the counter, I felt uneasy
> - perhaps even in denial that this was a good thing - seemed like a
> short cut.   Weeks or months later it hit me: The reason I needed it
> in those other languages is because they didn't have this 'feature',
> so the counter/index/item was a work around.
>
> A few months ago someone getting started with python was asking me
> ~"why is the counter/index/item pattern so cumbersome?"  A:"Because
> you normally don't need the counter."  I could see in his eyes the
> exact same disbelief I had felt.
>
> I think we should to focus on what makes python different.
>
> --
> Carl K
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