Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python

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Date	2013-11-11 22:32 +1100
Subject	Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python
From	Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.python
Message-ID	<mailman.2372.1384169923.18130.python-list@python.org> (permalink)

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On Mon, Nov 11, 2013 at 10:17 PM, Steven D'Aprano
<steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> wrote:
> On Mon, 11 Nov 2013 21:39:27 +1100, Chris Angelico wrote:
>> denormalizes it into a lookup table by creating 70 entries quoting the
>> first string, 15 quoting the second, 5, and 10, respectively.
>
> Ewww :-(
>
> Imagine having to print out the dict looking for an error in the lookup
> table. Or imagine the case where you have:
>
> 0...20000: do this
> 20001...890001: do that
> 890001...890003: do something else
>
> Don't get me wrong, it's a clever and reasonable solution for your
> specific use-case. But I'd much rather have a lookup table variant that
> matches on intervals.

Of course it's "Ewww" in isolation :) But just imagine there are piles
and piles of these tables, themselves keyed by keyword, and I want to
be able to let untrusted people create tables (which means they
basically have to be data, not code). Also, bear in mind, all the
tables are based around dice that can be physically rolled, so none
has more than 100 entries after denormalization. Quite a lot of the
tables actually have unique entries per value (eg it's a d10 roll,
with ten unique outputs), so it's simplest to just turn all the tables
into that format; that way, the main code needs worry about one type
only, and the preprocessor handles the denormalization.

And if there's an error in the lookup table, well, you look at the
normalized version, not at the one that actually gets parsed :) That's
basically like looking back at the Python source code rather than the
disassembled byte-code; apart from actually debugging the preprocessor
itself (which can be done with a ten-entry table that's easily
eyeballed), the denormalized version needn't be looked at by a human.

But this is a very VERY specific situation. Normally it's best to just
use an if/elif block. That's why this looks so "Ewww". :)

ChrisA

Thread

New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python John von Horn <j.h69@btinternet.com> - 2013-11-09 07:08 -0600
  Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Ned Batchelder <ned@nedbatchelder.com> - 2013-11-09 05:22 -0800
  Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Joshua Landau <joshua@landau.ws> - 2013-11-09 13:27 +0000
    Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Jonathan <jtcegh@gmail.com> - 2013-11-09 14:44 -0800
      Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-11-10 10:29 +1100
      Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2013-11-10 00:50 +0000
      Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-11-10 11:54 +1100
      Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Neil Cerutti <neilc@norwich.edu> - 2013-11-11 15:30 +0000
    Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Thomas Rachel <nutznetz-0c1b6768-bfa9-48d5-a470-7603bd3aa915@spamschutz.glglgl.de> - 2013-11-10 13:24 +0100
  Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2013-11-09 13:41 +0000
  Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Jussi Piitulainen <jpiitula@ling.helsinki.fi> - 2013-11-09 16:24 +0200
  Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-11-10 01:27 +1100
    Sandboxing Python [was Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python] Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2013-11-09 15:25 +0000
      Re: Sandboxing Python [was Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python] Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-11-10 02:32 +1100
    Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2013-11-10 08:47 +0000
      Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-11-10 20:22 +1100
      Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2013-11-10 04:39 -0700
      Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-11-10 22:43 +1100
      Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2013-11-10 12:12 -0500
      Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-11-11 10:29 +1100
      Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2013-11-10 19:13 -0500
  Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-11-09 07:38 -0800
    Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2013-11-09 10:56 -0500
      Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-11-09 08:30 -0800
        Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-11-10 21:36 -0800
          Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2013-11-11 09:01 -0500
            Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-11-11 07:14 -0800
            Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2013-11-11 21:05 -0500
            Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2013-11-12 14:38 -0800
  Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python John von Horn <j.h69@btinternet.com> - 2013-11-09 14:19 -0600
  Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2013-11-09 14:39 -0600
  Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Mark Janssen <dreamingforward@gmail.com> - 2013-11-09 12:33 -0800
    Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Ned Batchelder <ned@nedbatchelder.com> - 2013-11-09 12:54 -0800
      Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Mark Janssen <dreamingforward@gmail.com> - 2013-11-09 13:21 -0800
  Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2013-11-09 21:01 +0000
  Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2013-11-09 15:20 -0600
  Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python lorenzo.gatti@gmail.com - 2013-11-11 02:09 -0800
    Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-11-11 21:39 +1100
      Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2013-11-11 11:17 +0000
        Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-11-11 22:32 +1100
        Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Mark Janssen <dreamingforward@gmail.com> - 2013-11-11 14:29 -0800
    Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Robert Kern <robert.kern@gmail.com> - 2013-11-11 11:53 +0000
    Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-11-11 23:07 +1100
    Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Joshua Landau <joshua@landau.ws> - 2013-11-11 20:50 +0000
    Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-11-12 09:21 +1100
    Re: New user's initial thoughts / criticisms of Python Joshua Landau <joshua@landau.ws> - 2013-11-12 01:53 +0000

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