Python style & flexibility, tabs or spaces
I've been programming Python for a good while, and in the beginning I was very occupied with the style in which things are written.I always advocated using_names_like_this for everything, I guess because it is easy to read and understand, and it also takes into account acronyms which should be uppercase, as these acronyms are also separated from other words, for_example_html_text.
However, over the years, mostly these last couple of years, naming conventions aren't that important any more. Python is a very flexible language, and one can for example create a function that returns an instance of a class, the class being decided by the invoked function.. With this flexibility, separating functions from classes is somewhat redundant IMO, and one might just as well do everything in lower-case separated by an underscore.
However, I'm not riding these arguments anymore, there are a number of different Python systems such as Zope, Django, Repoze, Archetypes, Plone etc. that use a myriad of different ways of naming things.
I think the most important thing is, and has always been, the proper use of tabs and spaces in Python files, as this is the thing that can get you and has real impact on the "flow" of the program.
I think there are a couple of times in my Python career that I've encountered bugs due to mixed and erroneous spacing, and at least one of those bugs was pretty tough to get, but it's been a good while since that one. I don't think much about spacing any more, Emacs does the right thing whether I'm in text or Python mode.
One snag that always seems to get me is the use of commas in complex schema definitions in Archetypes for example, but that's thankfully always an error that stops the entire system so it's easy to catch.
My argument? Naming conventions aren't that important because there will never be enough willpower and resources to make everything completely consistent in the Python ecosystem.. and if one is very preoccupied with naming conventions, maybe it is time to drink a little less coffee, stress a little less and focus on the important parts of a program. [:)
[Permalink] [By morphex] [Python-only or > 0.5 Python related (Atom feed)] [2012 15 May 09:00 GMT+2]