Mark Lawrence wrote: > http://www.slideshare.net/pydanny/python-worst-practices > > Any that should be added to this list? Any that be removed as not that > bad?
I have no idea about Python worst practices, but I think using some sort of Powerpoint slide is surely one of the worst practices in general. In my browser, I see the title "Python Worst Practices". There's a Next Slide button, but clicking it does nothing. Down below, there is what appears to be a transcript, but it is full of extraneous and unnecessary fluff (nearly every line has a leading "Daniel Greenfeld @pydanny") and the formatting is destroyed. Worst practices: - Using assert for error checking, instead of explicit tests. - Overuse of regexes. If the only tool you have is the regex hammer, everything looks like a nail. - Underuse of regexes: failing to use a regex when one is called for is not quite as bad as the regex hammer, but still. - Python is not Java. http://dirtsimple.org/2004/12/python-is-not-java.html http://dirtsimple.org/2004/12/java-is-not-python-either.html Most worst practices are independent of the language. Regardless of whether they are writing Python, C or Ocaml, too many programmers make these deadly programming sins: - Too much coupling. Possibly the Mother Of All Sins, many other sins are variations of this: spaghetti code, ravioli code, global variables, etc. - Premature optimization. Which usually means, optimizing without measurement. If you just *assume* this code is "faster", chances are excellent that it is actually slower. - Overuse of 1-character or excessively generic variable names. - The other extreme: extremely_long_variable_names_for_no_good_reason. - Variable names (including functions and classes!) that aren't self-explanatory. - Misusing Hungarian notation. Or failing to use it when appropriate. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/Wrong.html - Violating the Rule of Demeter: don't talk to the dog's leg, talk to the dog. Or another way to put it: don't let the paper boy reach into your pocket for money. And very possibly the worst practice of all: - Failing to understand when it is, and isn't, appropriate to break the rules and do what would otherwise be a bad practice. -- Steven -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
