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Date: Thu, 12 May 2011 23:20:20 +1000
Subject: Re: checking if a list is empty
From: Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com>
To: python-list@python.org
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Xref: x330-a1.tempe.blueboxinc.net comp.lang.python:5234

On Thu, May 12, 2011 at 10:43 PM, Hans Georg Schaathun <hg@schaathun.net> w=
rote:
> On Thu, 12 May 2011 22:16:10 +1000, Chris Angelico
> =A0<rosuav@gmail.com> wrote:
> : =A0Anyone can join. Not everyone wants to join. Me, I'm happy here as a
> : =A0priest of the software industry, and I have no desire to become a
> : =A0priest of, say, automotive engineering or concrete pouring. Would an
> : =A0expert concreter be expected to explain to me exactly how to make
> : =A0different sorts of concrete, or would he be expected simply to fulfi=
ll
> : =A0his contract and provide me with my structure?
>
> Of course he would. =A0When a piece of software to calculate the
> properties or recipes for different kinds of concrete is needed.

Writing a program requires expertise both in programming and in the
purpose for which it's being written. Ultimately, a programmer is a
translator; without proper comprehension of the material he's
translating, he can't make a clear translation. But that's completely
different from hiring someone to do a job, and then looking at the job
afterwards; if I order a concreting job, I'll look at whether it's
properly suited to the task, but I won't expect an explanation of
exactly what went into it, and I do not expect to understand the exact
chemistry of it. Only another expert in concrete would truly
comprehend it all.

Chris Angelico