[Tutor] dict vs several variables?

leam hall leamhall at gmail.com
Fri Feb 17 15:06:11 CET 2012


On 2/17/12, Dave Angel <d at davea.name> wrote:

> Real question is whether some (seldom all) of those variables are in
> fact part of a larger concept.  If so, it makes sense to define a class
> for them, and pass around objects of that class.  Notice it's not
> global, it's still passed as an argument.  This can reduce your
> parameters from 20 to maybe 6.  But make sure that the things the class
> represents are really related.
>
> Dictionaries are a built-in collection class, as are lists, sets, and
> tuples.  But you can write your own.  An example of needing a class
> might be to hold the coordinates of a point in space.  You make a
> Location class, instantiate it with three arguments, and use that
> instance for functions like
>     move_ship(ship, newlocation)
>
> DaveA

Understood. In this case, the first half dozen variables are input and
the rest are derived from the first ones. A class might make sense and
though I understand them a little, not enough to make a good judgement
on it.

The task is to take parameters for a scuba dive; depth, gas mix, time,
air consumption rate, and compute the O2 load, gas required, etc.

Leam

-- 
Mind on a Mission <http://leamhall.blogspot.com/>


More information about the Tutor mailing list