[Tutor] Poor style to use list as "array"?

[Angus Rodgers]

On Mon, 6 Jul 2009 01:51:22 +0100, Rich Lovely wrote:

[I wrote:]
>>                if name in plural:
>>                    name = plural[name]
>>                else:
>>                    name += 's'
>This could be written more cleanly (although arguably not as readably) as
>
>name = plural.get(name, name + "s")

Nice, and readable enough, I think.

>d.get(key, default) returns the value from d mapped to key if it
>exists, or default otherwise.
>
>You might also want to split your calculation and display code into
>two separate loops.  This might seem wasteful, but it will make your
>code easier to read and maintain, and the waste is only marginal with
>the loops you're running - there is a maximum of only 17 passes (once
>for each value of coin and note)

If I understand you correctly, this is the same idea as Bob Gailer
used in his code - in which 'buff' becomes a list, instead of (as
in my code) a string, formatted for printing.  It certainly seems 
to simplify the whole thing enormously:

<http://python.pastebin.com/d42610591>   (retention: 1 day)
(Ignore the boilerplate!)

Thanks to all of you.  I haven't adopted the suggestion of using
classes, which I think I'll leave for when I'm reading the later
chapters of the book (although I do get the gist of the idea).
-- 
Angus Rodgers