[Python-Dev] Replacement for print in Python 3.0

Nick Coghlan ncoghlan at gmail.com
Tue Sep 6 15:16:31 CEST 2005


Greg Ewing wrote:
> Guido van Rossum wrote:
> 
>>So let's call it the "Swiss Army Knife
>>(...Not)" API design pattern.
> 
> 
> Aha! Maybe this is the long-lost 20th principle from
> the Zen of Python?

It also sounds like one of the reasons why the ultimates in programming swiss 
army knives (that is, Lisp macros and Ruby blocks) are unlikely to make an 
appearance in Python in their full, unconstrained 'glory'. . .

There's an interesting comparison with UI design though - having a couple of 
different tools in the interface with sensible default behaviour is generally 
easier to use than a single tool where you have to tell it which behaviour you 
want all the time (or pick one as the default, and have to remember to tell 
the application when you want the other behaviour).

Cheers,
Nick.

-- 
Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at gmail.com   |   Brisbane, Australia
---------------------------------------------------------------
             http://boredomandlaziness.blogspot.com


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