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Re: Beginner needs advice

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From Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu>
Subject Re: Beginner needs advice
Date Mon, 30 May 2011 21:47:30 -0400
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On 5/30/2011 8:32 PM, harrismh777 wrote:

>
> However, I guarantee that if I'm dumped unaided in Piccadilly I'll be
> able to hail a cab, pay my £12.00 and get myself to Liverpool Street
> Station, find the bathroom, and be on the correct train just in time for
> dinner, all without looking into the English dictionary.

Because natural language is redundant and most speakers are forgiving, 
while computer language are stripped on much redundancy and their 
interpreters tend to be unforgiving, so a single missing comma or space 
can raise a SyntaxError. Python is designed to do so, and allow/require 
correction, rather than guess and go on.

This is not so bad; what if the cabbie does not understand you but say 
OK, guesses the destination, ignores any protestations, and asks for £30 
at the wrong destination. Following people who deafly say OK and take 
you whereever is a real hazard in some countries. Some tourist guides 
even warn about the practice.

Anyway, 'L i v e r p o o l   S t r e e t   S t a t i o n' is such a 
trivial utterance as to not be comparable to anything as complicated as 
a typical 5-line function.

-- 
Terry Jan Reedy

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Thread

Re: Beginner needs advice "Colin J. Williams" <cjw@ncf.ca> - 2011-05-25 08:57 -0400
  Re: Beginner needs advice harrismh777 <harrismh777@charter.net> - 2011-05-27 09:40 -0500
    Re: Beginner needs advice Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2011-05-27 15:52 +0000
      Re: Beginner needs advice harrismh777 <harrismh777@charter.net> - 2011-05-27 15:40 -0500
        Re: Beginner needs advice Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2011-05-28 09:09 +1000
          Re: Beginner needs advice harrismh777 <harrismh777@charter.net> - 2011-05-27 20:02 -0500
            Re: Beginner needs advice Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2011-05-27 18:30 -0700
              Re: Beginner needs advice harrismh777 <harrismh777@charter.net> - 2011-05-28 14:21 -0500
                Re: Beginner needs advice Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2011-05-29 05:47 +1000
                Re: Beginner needs advice harrismh777 <harrismh777@charter.net> - 2011-05-28 21:02 -0500
                Re: Beginner needs advice Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2011-05-29 12:26 +1000
                Re: Beginner needs advice Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2011-05-29 14:09 +0000
                Re: Beginner needs advice harrismh777 <harrismh777@charter.net> - 2011-05-30 19:32 -0500
                Re: Beginner needs advice "Rhodri James" <rhodri@wildebst.demon.co.uk> - 2011-05-31 01:58 +0100
                Re: Beginner needs advice Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2011-05-30 22:20 -0700
                Re: Beginner needs advice Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2011-05-31 15:48 +1000
                Re: Beginner needs advice MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2011-05-31 17:59 +0100
                Re: Beginner needs advice Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2011-05-31 10:22 -0700
                Re: Beginner needs advice Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2011-05-30 21:34 -0400
                Re: Beginner needs advice Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2011-05-30 21:47 -0400
                Re: Beginner needs advice Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2011-05-30 22:20 -0700
                Re: Beginner needs advice Benjamin Kaplan <benjamin.kaplan@case.edu> - 2011-05-30 22:35 -0700
            Re: Beginner needs advice Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2011-05-28 05:40 +0000
        Re: Beginner needs advice Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2011-05-28 06:15 +0000
          Re: Beginner needs advice harrismh777 <harrismh777@charter.net> - 2011-05-28 21:33 -0500
            Re: Beginner needs advice Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2011-05-29 02:06 -0600
              Re: Beginner needs advice harrismh777 <harrismh777@charter.net> - 2011-05-30 19:43 -0500
                Re: Beginner needs advice Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2011-05-30 19:16 -0600
                Re: Beginner needs advice Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2011-05-31 12:27 +1000
                Re: Beginner needs advice harrismh777 <harrismh777@charter.net> - 2011-05-30 22:02 -0500
            Re: Beginner needs advice Jason Tackaberry <tack@urandom.ca> - 2011-05-29 15:28 -0400
              Re: Beginner needs advice rantingrick <rantingrick@gmail.com> - 2011-05-29 16:00 -0700
                Re: Beginner needs advice Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2011-05-30 09:31 +1000
              Re: Beginner needs advice harrismh777 <harrismh777@charter.net> - 2011-05-30 19:44 -0500
            Re: Beginner needs advice rantingrick <rantingrick@gmail.com> - 2011-05-29 15:15 -0700
            Re: Beginner needs advice Dotan Cohen <dotancohen@gmail.com> - 2011-05-31 20:56 +0300
            Re: Beginner needs advice Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2011-05-31 12:29 -0600
            Re: Beginner needs advice Dotan Cohen <dotancohen@gmail.com> - 2011-05-31 21:42 +0300
        Re: Beginner needs advice Dotan Cohen <dotancohen@gmail.com> - 2011-05-29 08:46 +0300
      Re: Beginner needs advice Thomas Rachel <nutznetz-0c1b6768-bfa9-48d5-a470-7603bd3aa915@spamschutz.glglgl.de> - 2011-05-28 07:06 +0200
        Re: Beginner needs advice Thorsten Kampe <thorsten@thorstenkampe.de> - 2011-05-28 08:38 +0200
          Re: Beginner needs advice Thorsten Kampe <thorsten@thorstenkampe.de> - 2011-05-28 08:42 +0200
          Re: Beginner needs advice Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2011-05-28 16:44 +1000
          Re: Beginner needs advice Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2011-05-28 08:13 +0000
        Re: Beginner needs advice "D'Arcy J.M. Cain" <darcy@druid.net> - 2011-05-28 08:38 -0400

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