Python is Zen (was Python is wierd)

[Thomas Wouters]

On Thu, Jul 27, 2000 at 09:16:05AM -0700, Richard P. Muller wrote:

> One of these days I'm going to write an article called "Zen and the Art
> of Python". In the meantime, I'll leave you with this quote, taken from
> the PythonLabs website:

> "Python is the most efficient language I've ever used. It's 10 times
> better than any of the other tools I have used. It's free, it's
> object-oriented, it adapts to everything, it runs on everything. There
> is almost an indescribable 'quality without a name' attraction on my
> part."
>  --Bruce Eckel, Author of Thinking in Java

Let's not forget Tim's "Python Philosphy":

"
Beautiful is better than ugly.
Explicit is better than implicit.
Simple is better than complex.
Complex is better than complicated.
Flat is better than nested.
Sparse is better than dense.
Readability counts.
Special cases aren't special enough to break the rules.
Although practicality beats purity.
Errors should never pass silently.
Unless explicitly silenced.
In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess.
There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it.
Although that way may not be obvious at first unless you're Dutch.
Now is better than never.
Although never is often better than *right* now.
If the implementation is hard to explain, it's a bad idea.
If the implementation is easy to explain, it may be a good idea.
Namespaces are one honking great idea -- let's do more of those!

dict-is-short-for-dictator-cuz-gui-was-already-in-use-ly y'rs  - tim
"

Reading *and understanding* all of the guidelines (or is that guidolines? ;)
makes Python incredibly obvious and predicatble. Or at least it makes
obvious why you already think Python is incredibly obvious and predictable ;)

-- 
Thomas Wouters <thomas at xs4all.net>

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