I come to praise .join, not to bury it...

[Alex Martelli]

"Garry Hodgson" <garry at sage.att.com> wrote in message
news:3AAF7E47.294617E1 at sage.att.com...
> Alex Martelli wrote:
>
> > I have not heard ANY _technical_ arguments opposed to
> > this last time the discussion went around -- nothing but
> > vague aesthetic, "it should be the other way", "I find it
    [snip]
> don't be too quick to write off Aesthetics.  it's a significant
> part of what attracted me to python (i'd seen enough curly braces
> and semicolons to last me a lifetime).  avoiding scaring off newbies
> until they've had time to appreciate other virtues is not a Bad Thing.

And then again, the _appearance_ that too much emphasis
was being placed on syntax-sugary issues kept me *AWAY*
from Python for longer than it should have -- sure, sure,
I could save some punctuation, but, *WHAT DID I CARE*?!

Good thing (for me) that I eventually looked beyond the
pretty face, of course:-).  But, appearing to care about
looks more than about substance _is_ going to keep away
some people (just as it is going to attract others), so,
it's not a clear "win" either way, even if you just frame
it as a popularity-race.  Focus on *substance*, on the
other hand, is going to be a win for all who _are_ involved
with Python -- not just those who happen to be on the
"I like it" side vs the "I like it not" one (and I've
never seen any argument about _aesthetics_ [as opposed to
_usability_ -- human-factors studies DO have a substantial
side too:-)] that doesn't boil down to such trifles]).


Alex