Extract lines from file, add to new files
Mats Wichmann
mats at wichmann.us
Sat Feb 3 13:56:37 EST 2024
On 2/3/24 10:58, Thomas Passin via Python-list wrote:
> In my view this whole thread became murky and complicated because the OP
> did not write down the requirements for the program. Requirements are
> needed to communicate with other people. An individual may not need to
> actually write down the requirements - depending on their complexity -
> but they always exist even if only vaguely in a person's mind. The
> requirements may include what tools or languages the person wants to use
> and why.
>
> If you are asking for help, you need to communicate the requirements to
> the people you are asking for help from.
>
> The OP may have thought the original post(s) contained enough of the
> requirements but as we know by now, they didn't.
>
> The person asking for help may not realize they don't know enough to
> write down all the requirements; an effort to do so may bring that lack
> to visibility.
>
> Mailing lists like these have a drawback that it's hard to impossible
> for someone not involved in a thread to learn anything general from it.
> We can write over and over again to please state clearly what you want
> to do and where the sticking points are, but newcomers post new
> questions without ever reading these pleas. Then good-hearted people
> who want to be helpful end up spending a lot of time trying to guess
> what is actually being asked for, and maybe never find out with enough
> clarity. Others take a guess and then spend time working up a solution
> that may or may not be on target.
>
> So please! before posting a request for help, write down the
> requirements as best you can figure them out, and then make sure that
> they are expressed such that the readers can understand.
Indeed. I've occasionally practised the following technique (in some
form) over the years without knowing it had grown a name, and wikipedia
page to go with it. It may be handy to use to help come up with a
clearer explanation before sending off a post to a mailing list or other
static medium, because of the inevitable delays in going back and forth.
Interactive formus like the Python Discord have a bit of an advantage in
that you can try to tease out the intent more quickly. But as you
say... a newcomer won't know this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging
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