[Tutor] Returning multiple objects from a function

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Tue, Jul 03, 2012 at 07:45:53PM -0700, Alexander Q. wrote:

> -Alex
> 
> P.S. Let me know if this message is sent incorrectly (I scrolled down to
> the bottom of the text box to type this, as opposed to writing the message
> at the top of the text box. I am guessing this is what is meant by
> "top-posting.").

I can see your PS, but I can't (easily) see what your comment was that 
you are adding a PS to.

Alex, sorry to nag, but email protocol is that things you type yourself 
should be just ordinary text like this paragraph. Text you are quoting 
from a previous email should start with a less than sign > like the PS 
message I quoted. Multiple levels of quoting should start with multiple 
less than signs.

If you type text starting with a > sign, deliberately or accidentally, 
it looks like you are quoting somebody else. 

This is counter-productive, because many people reading your email will 
just skim quoted text and they won't notice your comment; worse, some 
email programs can be configured to hide large blocks of quoted text, so 
your comment will be hidden and they literally cannot see it.

Strictly speaking, you're also misattributing your own words to somebody 
else. (You are effectively claiming that *they* wrote what *you* 
actually wrote.) Not only does that cause confusion, but it is rude and 
possibly even actionable if serious enough. (Suppose you wrote something 
like "I have a serious drinking problem", but made it look like you were 
quoting Fred and therefore *Fred* had the drinking problem -- Fred might 
decide to sue you for defamation.)

So please take a modicum of care when writing emails that you start a 
new, BLANK line before typing, and not one starting with >

Last but not least, on technical forums like this, the usual protocol is 
neither "top posting" (type your message above the previous email) nor 
"bottom posting" (type your message below the previous email), but 
"inline posting". This takes a little more effort, but in a long thread 
it makes it much easier to follow the discussion.

In inline posting, you add your comments *between* quotes, as if in a 
dialog. Delete parts of the previous conversation that are no longer 
relevant, so as to keep the size of the email manageable. It is polite 
to indicate when you have deleted text, at least the first time, by 
putting in something like 

[...]

or 

[snip]

to indicate that you have edited the previous person's reply. Leave 
enough text to establish context. If you look back over some of the 
archives, you will see plenty of examples from regulars.

http://mail.python.org/pipermail/tutor/


See also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style



-- 
Steven