[Python-ideas] Make Difflib example callable as module __main__

[Rob Cliffe]

I am a programmer, of some 30-odd years full-time.
But that doesn't mean I understand every acronym of every specialised 
field under the sun.
"Version Control System" instead of "VCS" is perfectly comprehensible 
and only takes a little longer to type.  "VCS" meant nothing to me.
I follow the postings on python-dev and python-ideas with keen interest.

On 23/02/2012 12:31, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> 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.
>
>