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0 pointsundershirt13y ago0 comments

Here's an example: A co-worker looked at a function I wrote that converts a table to a tree, and he said to me, "I thought Python was supposed to be readable, but I have no idea what this is doing."

See for yourself: https://gist.github.com/3988350

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4 comments · 2 top-level

Peaker13y ago· 2 in thread

Manually capturing free variables via:

  def __init__(self, x, y, ..):
    self.x = x
    self.y = y

Is so tedious and DRY-violating.

lmm13y ago

This is true. I'd prefer scala-style constructor syntax - though I'm not sure how you could retain python's wonderful symmetry between constructors and methods, and the distinction between allocation and initialization.

Peaker13y ago

I don't know Scala, but the Erights language does something like (pseudo-syntax):

  def Circle(center, radius):
    circumference = 2 * pi * radius
    return object:
      to getCircumference():
         return circumference
      to ...

The "self" is the lexical scope. Simple and more effective than Python's method, IMO.

mattdeboard13y ago

I agree with your co-worker. The indirection is kind of annoying to follow to be completely honest, so if your co-worker isn't proficient in Python I can understand how this would seem impossible to sort out.

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