Spyke
discuss.tchncs.de

Meaningful Indentation > Unnecessary visual clutter

I will die on this hill. Python is wonderfully readable as it saves on unnecessary characters because indentations as well as line breaks are (usually) part of the syntax. Something like C++ with all its :;{}<> is just painful to read, not to mention annoying to write on many non-US keyboard layouts such as german without modifications.

15

i code using a german layout and to type any kind of bracket you have to use a modifier key and a number. its awkward, but i am to lazy to switch between layouts and sometimes work on machines where i can't change the layout easily.

python is quite nice to programm on a german layout, because it tends to have fewer braces than other languages.

tl;dr: german keyboard layout "hides" many symbols on a second layer beneath the number row which makes it awkward to use for many programming languages.

4
eldavireply
lemmy.ml

said like someone who's never had to parse through 10k+ lines of python source without an IDE. lol

1

The indentation is the visual clutter to me.

Linebreaks are meant for casual readability, not end of statement, that's how we write long statements on multiple lines. Therefore, we need a symbol for end-of-statement.

1

I think having both the indentation and the braces surrounding code is much better than just indentation or braces, since it removes any ambiguity of what code goes to what if, for, or while loop/condition. we already have to memorize precedence to define ambiguous expressions. Why have another set of rules that could otherwise be prevented with braces and indentation?

1
roz
lemmy.blahaj.zone

What's worse, that Python doesn't need semicolons, or that if used, they are ignored? 🤔

7
>>> print("proof by counterexample in a python REPL")
proof by counterexample in a python REPL
>>> x = 2; print(x)
2
>>> print("this is not ignored"); print("it's just mostly useless"); print("but you can use as many as you want")
this is not ignored
it's just mostly useless
but you can use as many as you want
6
lemmy.world

She wants to be chosen. In python semicolons are optional in most cases. You choose to add them... mostly because you have been writing a lot of c lately

4

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