Python's annoyance.

[Steven Bethard]

Jp Calderone wrote:
> On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 19:03:26 GMT, Steven Bethard <steven.bethard at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>While I'm not a fan of the decorator syntax or the $syntax in 
>>string.Template, you're not forced to use either of these:
> 
> You may not be forced to write them
[snip]
> it is likely that you will be forced to *read* them.
[snip]
> the argument "If you don't like that feature, don't use it" is
> relatively meritless.

Well, it's certainly true that reading code is often a more important 
concern, but I'm not sure I agree that the issue's as black and white as 
you seem to want to draw it.  If 90% of people don't use the features, 
then I only have to read them 10% of the time.  So the more people I 
convince not to use the feature, the less code that gets written with 
the feature, and the easier my reading gets. ;)

Of course, I still have to be able to read both syntactic variants, but 
I don't have to read them *all the time*.  If I have to look up an 
unfamiliar variant occasionally, I don't see this as any worse than 
having to look up a library module's functions occasionally[1].

Steve

[1] Since string.Template *is* a library module, I don't see looking up 
what the $-syntax means as being any worse than, say, reading the re 
module docs again (which I have to do pretty much every time I decide to 
use regexps).