[Python-ideas] Does jargon make learning more difficult?

[Rhodri James]

On 18/08/18 01:59, Abe Dillon wrote:
> The argument I tried to make is, "yes I believe there are cases where a
> less jargon identifier is preferable and that I believe 'lambda' is an
> example of a missed opportunity to use a less jargon (maybe 'esoteric' is a
> better word here?), more descriptive name."

While I don't entirely disagree with you, if I had been responsible for 
inventing that bit of Python I would probably have gone with "lambda" 
too.  It had been part of my vocabulary as a computer scientist long 
before I met it in a programming language.  Whether it's a *good* choice 
or not... possibly reusing "def" would fit people's expectations better, 
or perhaps it would have caused more confusion.  Who can tell?

Jargon becomes jargon because it's useful to enough people, for 
occasionally rather odd definitions of "useful".  In the case of lambda, 
it's shorter than "inline function definition" and lambda calculus at 
least shows up on most CompSci courses.  Once it settles into a group, 
you use it because other members of the group will understand what you 
mean and might not understand if you rephrase it.

 > For instance: when the iPhone was introduced, a lot of people praised
 > it's subjectively "slick" user interface. I believe that perception of
 > slickness is partly because the iPhone emulated physical interfaces
 > very well so it leveraged people's intuition about the physical world.
 > It was delightfully intuitive.

One of the things Apple have always been very good at is thinking hard 
about user interfaces.  What made the iPhone so good was that they 
emulated the right physical interfaces, so flipping a page when you're 
reading rather than pressing a button.

-- 
Rhodri James *-* Kynesim Ltd