Python and Diaspora

Python and Diaspora
How other languages have influenced Python for 25+ years
PyCon Korea 2017
Hong Minhee

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Diaspora (διασπορά)
A diaspora (…) is a scattered population whose origin lies within
a smaller geographic locale. Diaspora can also refer to the
movement of the population from its original homeland.
—“Diaspora.” Wikipedia.
E.g. Zainichi Korean, Koreans in China

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Origin myth
Guido van Rossum has started to create Python since 1989.
A famous anecdote.

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Origin myth, or history
Guido van Rossum has started to create Python since 1989.
However, don't we have any history for 25+ years since then?

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“Pythonic”

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What is Pythonic?
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What is Pythonic?
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5

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Not about invented tradition
Eric Hobsbawm & Terence Ranger. The Invention of Tradition.

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Platform
To become popular, a programming language has to be the
scripting language of a popular system. Fortran and Cobol were
the scripting languages of early IBM mainframes. C was the
scripting language of Unix, and so, later, was Perl. Tcl is the
scripting language of Tk. Java and Javascript are intended to be
the scripting languages of web browsers.
Being Popular. Paul Graham.

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Platform
Language Platform
COBOL IBM mainframes
C Unix
JavaScript Web
Python

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Glue language
Because it is interpreted, it is suitable for rapid prototyping and
program development. Because it easily incorporates modules
written in other languages, it is an excellent glue language for
the overall structure of large programming projects. Python is
not suitable for programming algorithms which require very
rapid or time critical execution such as data compression,
device drivers, complex floating point calculations or complex
database operations.
—“Internet Programming with Python.” Linux Journal #42,
October 1997.

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Glue language
Python is extensible: if you know how to program in C it is easy
to add a new built‑in function or module to the interpreter, either
to perform critical operations at maximum speed, or to link
Python programs to libraries that may only be available in binary
form (such as a vendor‑specific graphics library). Once you are
really hooked, you can link the Python interpreter into an
application written in C and use it as an extension or command
language for that application.
—Whetting Your Appetite. Python 1.5.2 Tutorial.

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Lisp and Python

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“Acceptable Lisp”
I guarantee you there isn't one single Lisp programmer out there
who uses exclusively Lisp. Instead we spend our time hacking
around its inadequacies, often in other languages.
—Lisp is Not an Acceptable Lisp. Steve Yegge.

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Early users familiar with Lisp
Thus, early users familiar with such languages found
themselves implementing comparable functionality in Python.
…
In late 1993, users had been throwing around various ideas for
creating anonymous functions as well as various list
manipulation functions such as m
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(
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r
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d
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(
) .
—Origins of Python's “Functional” Features. The History of
Python. Guido van Rossum.

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1993
Anonymous function? m
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Do languages without such features even exist?

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1995
Java
JavaScript
Ruby

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1995
Java (lambda and m
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p / f
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t
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r introduced in 2014)
JavaScript ( m
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p / f
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r introduced in 2005)
Ruby

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Haskell and list comprehensions
The idea of list comprehensions originally comes from the
functional programming language Haskell. Greg Ewing argued
most effectively for adding them to Python and wrote the initial
list comprehension patch, which was then discussed for a
seemingly endless time on the python‑dev mailing list and kept
up‑to‑date by Skip Montanaro.
—“List Comprehensions.” What's New in Python 2.0.

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Smalltalk and Python

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Subclassing s
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Types and classes
Like Smalltalk, Python has dynamic typing and binding, and
everything in Python is an object. However, Python
distinguishes built‑in object types from user‑defined classes,
and currently doesn't allow inheritance from built‑in types.
—Comparing Python to Other Languages. April 1997. Guido
van Rossum.
(Emphasis added.)

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Before PEP 253
3.4 U
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objects
This module defines a class that acts as a wrapper around
dictionary objects. It is a useful base class for your own
dictionary‑like classes, which can inherit from them and
override existing methods or add new ones. In this way one can
add new behaviours to dictionaries.
—Python Library Reference. Release 1.5.2. April 1999.

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Before PEP 253
3.4 U
s
e
r
L
i
s
t — Class wrapper for list objects
This module defines a class that acts as a wrapper around list
objects. It is a useful base class for your own list‑like classes,
which can inherit from them and override existing methods or
add new ones. In this way one can add new behaviours to lists.
—Python Library Reference. Release 1.5.2. April 1999.

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Subtyping built‑in types
This PEP proposes additions to the type object API that will
allow the creation of subtypes of built‑in types, in C and in
Python.
—PEP 253 “Subtyping Built‑in Types.” May 2001.

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Digital Creations
… the members of PythonLabs are making Digital Creations
their new home. Guido van Rossum was kind enough to answer
a set of questions …
Do you expect the PythonLabs people to work on Zope as
well?
Yes — Zope is a very interesting piece of software, and we'd
like to help. I certainly have some ideas that I'd like to try out.
But I don't think this will be a large portion of our time — instead,
we'll be improving Python in ways that will make it possible for
Jim Fulton's team to make Zope better.
“Guido van Rossum on the move to Digital Creations.”
November 1, 2000. LWN.

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Smalltalk and Zope
It looks like you have been a Smalltalk programmer.
Jim Fulton: Yes. Smalltalk is very cool. I built a visual chart editor
for the USGS using GNU Smalltalk. I also spent a little time
serving on the ANSI Smalltalk committee.
There seems to be some neat work still going on with Smalltalk,
especially Squeak.
—Jim Fulton Interview. Zopera (French Zope UG). February
2002.

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Smalltalk and Zope
Do you have a vision of the future of web development
that you follow since many years, or do you try to follow
industry standards and to keep best of them?
Jim Fulton: I'm an object zealot, and Zope has always been
about employing the power of object technology and Python to
make building web solutions to complex problems as easy as
possible.
—Jim Fulton Interview. Zopera. February 2002.

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Making Python look more like Smalltalk
This PEP proposes changes to the introspection API for types
that makes them look more like classes, and their instances
more like class instances. For example, t
y
p
e
(
x
) will be
equivalent to x
.
_
_
c
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a
s
s
_
_ for most built‑in types.
—PEP 252 “Making Types Look More Like Classes.” April 2001.

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Then and now
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Zope and Python web frameworks
Trac, Edgewall Software (2004)
Pylons, Ben Bangert & James Gardner (2005)
WebOb, Ian Bicking (2007)
r
e
p
o
z
e
.
b
f
g , Agendaless Consulting (2009)

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Zope and Python web frameworks
Trac, Edgewall Software (2004)
Pylons Project
Pylons (2005) → Pyramid (2010)
WebOb (2007) → Pyramid (2010)
r
e
p
o
z
e
.
b
f
g (2009) → Pyramid (2010)

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Perl and Python

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Package managers are the norm now
Perl (1987): CPAN
Python (1989): PyPI & p
i
p
Ruby (1995): RubyGems
Java (1995): Maven
Haskell (1990): Cabal & Stack
JavaScript (1995): n
p
m

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Though they weren't back then
Perl (1987): CPAN (1995)
Python (1989): Cheese Shop (2002) & p
i
p (2011)
Ruby (1995): RubyGems (March 2004)
Java (1995): Maven (July 2004)
Haskell (1990): Cabal (2005) & Stack (2016)
JavaScript (1995): n
p
m (2010)

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Python was in envy of Perl's CPAN
It's been said more than once that Python really needs a
CPAN‑like module repository. What's the current thinking
in that regard?
That it's true. We don't yet have immediate plans in that
direction, but in the long term I think we'll be improving the
www.python.org website (making it a Zope site run by the
community) and this would be a logical thing to add. Note that
the distutils package added to Python 2.0 makes installation of
3rd party code much easier.
“Guido van Rossum on the move to Digital Creations.”
November 1, 2000. LWN.

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ESR on Perl and Python
So the real punchline of the story is this: weeks and months
after writing fetchmailconf†, I could still read the fetchmailconf
code and grok what it was doing without serious mental effort.
And the true reason I no longer write Perl for anything but tiny
projects is that was never true when I was writing large masses
of Perl code. I fear the prospect of ever having to modify
keeper‡ or anthologize‡ again—but fetchmailconf gives me no
qualms at all.
—“Why Python?” Linux Journal #73, May 2000. Eric S.
Raymond.
† ESR's software written in Python.
‡ ESR's softwares written in Perl.

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Conclusion

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ABC
It was the eighties now, and Basic was the language of choice
for a new generation of amateur programmers… Our team
considered the Basic language a pest that the world should be
rid of. The language we were building, ABC, would “stamp out
Basic”, according to our motto.
Sadly, for a variety of reasons, …, ABC was abandoned. Since
then I've spent many hours trying to understand why the project
failed … my best answer is that ABC died because there was no
internet in those days, and as a result there could not be a
healthy feedback loop between the makers of the language and
its users. ABC's design was essentially a one‑way street.
—King's Day Speech. Guido van Rossum.

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Popularity
So whether or not a language has to be good to be popular,
I think a language has to be popular to be good. And it has to
stay popular to stay good.
Being Popular. Paul Graham.

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How we've defined “Pythonic”
Other languages have inspired what Python is.

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How we will define “Pythonic”
Other languages have inspired what Python is.
Other languages can inspire what Python should be in the future, too.

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Thank you
Slides:

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Python and Diaspora

Python and Diaspora

Hong Minhee (洪民憙)

More Decks by Hong Minhee (洪民憙)

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Python and Diaspora

Python and Diaspora

Hong Minhee (洪 民憙)

More Decks by Hong Minhee (洪 民憙)

Other Decks in Programming

Featured

Transcript

Hong Minhee (洪民憙)

More Decks by Hong Minhee (洪民憙)