On Dec 1, 2015 1:36 PM, "Rick Johnson" <rantingrickjohn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Tuesday, December 1, 2015 at 1:55:59 AM UTC-6, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> > Python was never intended to be "merely" a teaching language. I think
> > Guido's original vision was for it to be a glue language between C
> > libraries, and a scripting language.
>
> It's a well know fact that GvR was inspired to create Python from his
experiences working with a language called ABC -- and ABC was designed
*EXCLUSIVELY* to be a beginners language.
Which is exactly what made ABC itself unsuitable for Guido's purpose, which
was to create an *applications* language with better productivity than C to
support users of Amoeba, the OS that he was working on at the time.
> I am not arguing that "abstractions are evil", no, my position is that
abstractions must be constructed in a manner that provides a clear trail of
bread crumbs which lead to the underlying processes. With print, not only
is the engine in another dimension, but the hood is as well! How is a noob
to discover the engine when he cannot find the hood?
>
> Ponder the following example code (as a noob!):
>
> stdout.write("Dude, i found my car, the hood, and the effing engine!!!")
>
> Even a noob can intuit what is going on here. First we have an *OBJECT*
named "stdout, and we can extrapolate that stdout is an abbreviation for
StandardOutput. Next, we see a method called "write", and, if our IQ is
above room temperature, then we can extrapolate what that method will do.
This is absurd. You postulate a beginner so rank that they can't understand
what "print" means, yet you expect them to intuitively know:
1) what an object is;
2) what a method is;
3) that a method is identified by placing a period between the object and
the name of the method;
4) what "output" is in the context of programming;
5) and not be confused about what makes the output "standard".
> Now ponder this code (as a noob!):
>
> print("Dude, where's the intuitiveness?")
>
> What the heck does print do? Where will the string go after i execute
this line of code? Should i turn my printer on? Should i check my ink
levels? And what OEM drivers are required?
You're describing this as if your hypothetical beginner were learning
Python in a vacuum. In reality, people learn from a teacher, or a book, or
at minimum a tutorial.
Here's how you teach somebody what "print" does: instruct them to type
print("hello world") at the interactive prompt. Note that Python writes
"hello world" as a result. If they really want, they can check their
printer and see that nothing came out. That's it. The student now
understands what "print" means.
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