Counterintuitive Python behavior

[Fernando Pérez]

<posted & mailed>

Alex Martelli wrote:

> Your intuition, which led you astray here (Python does just
> what it should do), can be trained in several ways.  The
> works of J. L. Borges and I. Calvino, if you like fiction
> that's reasonably sophisticated but still quite pleasant,
> are good bets.  If you like non-fiction written by
> engineers fighting hard to dispell some of the errors of
> philosophers, Wittgenstein and Korzibsky are excellent.
> 
> I'm not kidding, but I realize that many Pythonistas don't
> really care for either genre.  In which case, this group
> and its archives, essays by GvR and /F, and the Python
> sources, may also prove interesting reading.
> 

Well, I certainly hope your post encourages some to get acquainted with two of  
the most elegant and fantastic writers of the 20th century. Unfortunately I 
don't read Italian so I need to read Calvino translated, but there are few 
joys in life which compare to reading Borges in his native Spanish 
(especially his poetry; by the way, I think much of his work is by now 
available in English). 

And I would argue that the writings from these two gentlemen _should_ appeal 
to the logically oriented mind of any programmer worth his salt.

You made my day with a reference here to some of my deepest 'intellectual 
loves' :)

Regards,

f.