Stephen Gruppetta @s_gruppetta@qoto.org

@andrewhoyer it “behaves” like a function. In many ways, that’s all that matters!

@raymondlesley one could argue the functions are the __new__() and __init__() methods, as with any class, and not the class itself. But the class is callable, like a function, of course

How often have you used the function `range()` in Python? It's often something you use early on as you learn about the `for` loop…

But… did you know it's not really a function, after all?!

Have a look at the docs or use `help()` to check…

`range` is a class. And therefore `range()` creates an instance of the class as is always the case with a class.

So, my question is: "Does it matter?"

Technically, it does. A function is not a class – they're different things

But in practice, what matters is how it behaves and not what it is!

This is a key principle in Python when thinking about data types. What they do and how they behave matters more that what they are!

So you can use `range()` like a function, even though it's not!

#Python #programming #coding #LearnPython #LearnToCode

When you learn to code, in Python or other languages,, you start by learning about the tools you’ll need and the rules for each one of those tools. You learn the syntax of the for loop and what it does, for example. With time, you also learn when to use this tool and when not to use it.

What’s more challenging in the early and not-so-early days when you learn Python coding is to join the dots between the various topics you learn and to view them as a coherent set of tools all working together.

Making the transition from knowing how to use lots of separate programming tools to seeing those tools as aspects of the same story is one of the rites of passage to move from beginner to intermediate, whichever way you define beginner and intermediate.

What has helped me get this type of understanding is good analogies. Here’s the one that works for me:

#Python #Programming #Coding #LearnPython #LearnToCode

https://thepythoncodingbook.com/2021/08/12/learn-python-coding-with-monty-and-the-white-room/

You've possible heard the quote which says that "Debugging is like being the detective in a crime movie where you are also the murderer”

A while ago, I decided to take this quote a bit more literally, but no, not "fully literally" (if you know what I mean - I didn't commit any crimes, just to be clear!)

Don't take this article too seriously, though!

–> Debugging Python Code Is Like Detective Work — Let’s Investigate

#Python #coding #programming #debugging #LearnPython #learntocode

https://thepythoncodingbook.com/2022/04/17/debugging-python-code-is-like-detective-work-lets-investigate/

@freemo @ambv it seems like some can choose (possibly inadvertently) to silo themselves a lot more than others based on choice of servers. Those who silo themselves a lot will of course, by definition, have a skewed sense of what goes on. I’ve not been here long enough to know which servers are which with clarity, but I’m pleased I switched to qoto early on

@hynek and my earlier toot renders like this on my server

@hynek no, I can see the asterisk as plain text

@hynek if I use plain text mode the symbols stay there but they’re rendered plain text for everyone. If I switch to markdown mode (a feature on qoto), then qoto users see it properly rendered but others see plain text with the markdown symbols stripped out

@hynek so for the toot above, I wrote using back ticks and ** but I suspect you saw neither

@hynek it strips markdown, making it useless to use until more servers support it. @freemo explained this recently. I’d quite the toot but that wouldn’t work for you either!

@hynek And that's the issue, different people see different things.

Same with markdown, for example this below is a code block that some servers will see properly rendered, but you're likely to see just plain text

`print("This is a code block")`

**and this is in bold here**