[Python-ideas] Make Difflib example callable as module __main__
Steven D'Aprano
steve at pearwood.info
Thu Feb 23 13:31:21 CET 2012
Rob Cliffe wrote:
> Can I put in a plea that postings to this list try to minimise the use
> of acronyms and jargon that may not be universally intelligible?
"Universally intelligible" is an awfully big request. There are English
speakers who don't know what you mean by either "postings" or "list", since
both of those are themselves jargon. (My parents, for two.) To say nothing of
children or non-English speakers who may not know what "acronym" means.
> This list is often read with interest by non-specialists such as myself.
> I have no idea for example what "VCS" means.
While I sympathise, this is a list aimed at programmers, and while
non-specialists are welcome, they are not the primary audience.
I think you will be better off trying to learn programmer's jargon than asking
programmers not to use common, if specialised, words in their technical
conversations. You wouldn't expect (say) car enthusiasts to stop using the
word "torque", or doctors not to use "dialysis", just because a non-specialist
might wander by and be listening in.
--
Steven
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