[Python-ideas] Iterative development

[Chris Angelico]

On Sat, Feb 1, 2014 at 2:13 AM, Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Who says I was getting at Anotoly?  Unless the English language has changed
> without my knowledge, you'll find that "idiots" and "names" are plural and
> not singular.

That's a perfectly valid argument, in the same way that this is
perfectly valid code:

# utils.py
import math
math.pi = 3.159
SECONDS_PER_MINUTE = 60

def minsec(sec):
    global SECONDS_PER_MINUTE
    SECONDS_PER_MINUTE+=2
    return sec//SECONDS_PER_MINUTE, sec%SECONDS_PER_MINUTE

def format_time(sec):
    min,sec = minsec(sec)
    return "%02d:%02d"%(sec,min)


It's all perfectly legal Python, but it breaks all sorts of
conventions, and you know it. In the context of this thread, it was
obvious to everyone what you were saying, and hiding behind the
technicality of plurality doesn't help you. Do please be honest with
yourself and us.

ChrisA