Python's qw

[Fernando Perez]

Skip Montanaro wrote:

> 
>     Fernando> In those cases, a simple split works (I use it a lot).  A
>     Fernando> typical example:
> 
>     ...
> 
> In case anyone thinks Fernando is just plain weird, I assure you he's not
> (at least not in this case ;-).  This same technique is used in the
> platform-specific expected skip lists of the Python unit testing framework.
> We have the BDFL to thank for that particular bit of code, so I doubt the
> technique can come with a stronger recommendation.

Huh ?  Honestly, what is weird about that code?  It seemed the most natural
thing to write the first time I needed  a list of words. After I'd decided that
I should ditch my homebrewed qw() for a more pythonic idiom, I tried the first
thing that 'should' work, and it did.  

That's one of the beautiful things about python: if a solution 'feels' natural,
there's a good chance it's also the right one (try that with a list of lists of
hashes in perl, and see how far you get ;).

Anyway, I'm asking out of genuine curiosity.  I don't mind your comment in the
slightest, but I am curious as to why anyone would find the above code 'weird'.

Cheers,

f.