On 2/16/2011 1:35 PM, snorble wrote:
I use Python a lot, but not well. I usually start by writing a small script, no classes or modules. Then I add more content to the loops, and repeat. It's a bit of a trial and error learning phase, making sure I'm using the third party modules correctly, and so on. I end up with a working script, but by the end it looks messy, unorganized, and feels hacked together. I feel like in order to reuse it or expand it in the future, I need to take what I learned and rewrite it from scratch.
Not a completely bad idea, except for the 'from scratch' part. Parts of code that work may just need reorganizing.
The most import thing is automated tests. They should grow with the code. Tests are like having a safety net.
If I peeked over a Python expert's shoulder while they developed something new, how would their habits differ? Do they start with classes from the start?
Depends on whether the particular purpose needs user-defined classes or is fine with functions using built-in classes.
-- Terry Jan Reedy -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
