[Tutor] Readabilty vs 80 characters

[Russel Winder]

On Thu, 2012-04-19 at 16:00 +0200, Peter Otten wrote:
[...]
> Seriously, learn that you don't need backslashes if you put the expression 
> into parens, precalculate parts of the expression and put them into 
> temporary variables -- and if that doesn't suffice to keep the code readable 
> and below the 80 char threshold reread the part of the PEP with the Emerson 
> quote ("A foolish consistency...").

I agree that where there is a backslash in a Python program, there is a
better layout that doesn't have it.  I wouldn't agree though that,
necessarily, decomposing long expression using temporary variables
improves anything. A good fluent API leads to function call chaining,
far fewer variables, and far more readable code. Much of the time, not
always, of course.

There is currently a definite trend (*) away from 1960s FORTRAN style
code structuring, to a 1980s Miranda (think Haskell and Scala) type
thinking about how to structure code.  There is experimental evidence in
psychology of programming that declarative expression leads to more
easily comprehensible code. This isn't advocacy research as much of
programming research has been. Even C++ is going to a more declarative
mode of expression, along with Java.  Python's list comprehensions fit
into this trend.


(*) Which may turn out just to be just the latest fashion ready to be
replaced in 2013. 

-- 
Russel.
=============================================================================
Dr Russel Winder      t: +44 20 7585 2200   voip: sip:russel.winder at ekiga.net
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