do...until wisdom found...

[Alex Martelli]

"Ken Peek" <Peek at LVCM.comNOSPAM> wrote in message
news:tdnn3dfi4h0m98 at corp.supernews.com...
    [snip]
> while(1):

Note that these parentheses are totally redundant.

> Some people have suggested that "loop:" is a much better keyword than
"do:".
> Now I am wondering if they are right-- maybe so.  I will have to think
about
> that some more-- maybe "loop:" IS more readable (by a programming newbie)
than
> "do:"...   hmmm....

It's not an issue of "readable" -- any short English word is readable,
but does it suggest what's going on when one does read it?  "DO" is just
about the least informative verb in the English language ("BE" is often
DIS-informative, cfr Korzybski, but that's another issue).  "LOOP" is
very clear and informative.  What's that gotta do with newbieness?!


> Can anybody think of a good name for a "Python-like" new language for
small
> embedded processors?
> Let's see-- "tinyPython"?  nope-- has "Python" in it-- might make Guido
mad.

It would be silly to add the adjective "tiny" for a language which
aims to be fatter (e.g. by adding multiple redundant loop forms).

> Hmmm, maybe "Dragon"?  Probably used by someone else?  Hmmm... maybe ???

http://www.thesaurus.com/roget/IV/513.html:
"""
[Nouns] oracle; prophet, seer, soothsayer, augur, fortune teller, witch,
geomancer,
aruspex; aruspice, haruspice; haruspex; Sibyl; Python, Pythoness; Pythia;
Pythian
oracle, Delphian oracle; Monitor, Sphinx, Tiresias, Cassandra, Sibylline
leaves;
Zadkiel, Old Moore; sorcerer [more]; interpreter [more].
"""

My favourite suggestions out of this list are Soothsayer, Haruspice
and Zadkiel. "Prognosticator" is another similar suggestion.

If you prefer the reptilian fold rather than the prophethical one,
suitably obscure names could be Woma, Chondro, Liasis, Dumeril,
Chandoia, Charina, Corallus, Epicrates, Lichanura, Tropidophis
(I'm not 100% sure of the spellings -- checking is advised!).

If you prefer the British TV Comedy fold (which is the one Python
actually happens to come from), "Fawlty Towers" is one possibility.
But I'll leave this part to people more familiar than me with
recent British TV Comedy.  Let's just note that "Mr Bean" should
not be used here, since it's such a natural for some Jython
Javabean related framework!


Alex