On Wed, 2011-02-16, 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. > > 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? > > I guess I'm looking for something similar to "Large Scale C++ Software > Design" for Python. Or even just a walkthrough of someone competent > writing something from scratch. I'm not necessarily looking for a > finished product that is well written. I'm more interested in, "I have > an idea for a script/program, and here is how I get from point A to > point B." > > Or maybe I'm looking for is best practices for how to organize the > structure of a Python program. I love Python and I just want to be > able to use it well.
Good questions -- and you got some really good answers already! What I always do when starting a program is: - Split it into a 'if __name__ == "__main__":' which does the command-line parsing, usage message and so on; and a function which contains the logic, i.e. works like the program would have if the OS had fed it its arguments as Python types - Document functions and classes. - Avoid having functions use 'print' and 'sys.std*', in case I need to use them with other files. I pass file-like objects as arguments instead. - Write user documentation and build/installation scripts. Since I'm on Unix, that means man pages and a Makefile. And that's all in the normal case. No need to do anything more fancy if it turns out I'll never have to touch that program again. I use classes when I see a use for them. The "see" part comes from quite a few years' worth of experience with object-oriented design in Python and C++ ... not sure how to learn that without getting lost in Design with a capital 'D' for a few years ... Anyway, I don't feel bad if I don't find any classes at first. /Jorgen -- // Jorgen Grahn <grahn@ Oo o. . . \X/ snipabacken.se> O o . -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
