advice on this little script

[Benjamin Liebald]

Re: advice on this little script

John Salerno wrote:[color=blue][color=green]
>> for x in range(minutes,0 ,-1):
>> sleep(60.0)
>> print minutes, 'minutes remaining'
>>[/color]
>
> I might be doing something wrong, but this just keeps printing out '10
> minutes remaining' each time.[/color]

should be:

for x in range(minutes,0 ,-1):
sleep(60.0)
print x, 'minutes remaining'

Ben

[John Salerno]

Re: advice on this little script

James Stroud wrote:[color=blue]
> John Salerno wrote:[color=green]
>> Grant Edwards wrote:
>>[color=darkred]
>>> On 2006-03-09, John Salerno <johnjsal@NOSPA Mgmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> from time import sleep
>>>>
>>>> minutes = input('Enter the number of minutes to wait: ')
>>>>
>>>> for x in range(minutes):
>>>> sleep(1.0)
>>>> minutes -= 1
>>>> print minutes, 'minutes remaining.'
>>>
>>> for x in range(minutes,0 ,-1):
>>> sleep(60.0)
>>> print minutes, 'minutes remaining'
>>>[/color]
>> I might be doing something wrong, but this just keeps printing out '10
>> minutes remaining' each time.[/color]
>
> print x, 'minutes remaining'
>
>
>[/color]
Ah! Thanks to both of you!

[Paul Rubin]

Re: advice on this little script

John Salerno <johnjsal@NOSPA Mgmail.com> writes:[color=blue][color=green]
> > for x in range(minutes,0 ,-1):
> > sleep(60.0)
> > print minutes, 'minutes remaining'
> >[/color]
> Nice! Cross off another line! I feel like Hemingway. :)[/color]

Besides the bug mentioned, I don't think you should really do it that
way, since sleep(60.0) might not sleep for exactly 60 sec (it could be
longer or shorter). Preferable is something like (untested):

now = time.time()
sleep_until = now + 60*minutes
while now < sleep_until:
print int((now - sleep_until)/60), 'minutes remaining'
sleep (60)
now = time.time()

You might actually want to stop sleeping a little bit early (say if
you wake up 5 seconds before sleep_until), or round the message to the
nearest number of minutes, etc.

[Alex Martelli]

Re: advice on this little script

Grant Edwards <grante@visi.co m> wrote:
...[color=blue][color=green]
> > Nice! Cross off another line! I feel like Hemingway. :)[/color]
>
> Was he the one who once apologized to his editor for a story
> being so long because he was in a hurry and didn't have time to
> make it shorter?[/color]

Nope, that immortal quote is by Blaise Pascal (also known as a
philosopher, a mathematician, and the developer of one of the best early
mechanical calculators, as well as for the programming language Niklaus
Wirth named after him, and the SI standard unit of pressure, 1 Pa == 1 N
per square meter, also named in his honor because he was the first to
use a barometer to measure altitude); it's found in his "Lettres
Provinciales" (which is not a collection of "real" letters, but rather a
philosophical, theological and political polemic cast in epistular
form). It's often misattributed to Mark Twain, but this the first time
I've heard it associated with Hemingway!



Alex

[Alex Martelli]

Re: advice on this little script

John Salerno <johnjsal@NOSPA Mgmail.com> wrote:
...[color=blue]
> I think the 'from time import sleep' looks cleaner, because I'm only
> taking what I need (is an import any more expensive than this from?),
> but I also feel like the 'time.sleep' syntax is much more
> self-describing and better to read than just 'sleep'.
>
> So what do you guys think between these two choices?[/color]

I only use the 'from' statement to import specific modules from a
package, never to import specific objects (functions, classes, or
whatever) from a module. It scales much better: when reading a long
module, I _know_ that any barename X always refers to a local,
nested-scope, or global name, never to something snatched from
who-recalls-what module -- in the latter case I'll never see a barename,
but always somemodule.X, and searching for '... import somemodule' will
immediately tell me where somemodule was coming from (should I need to
be reminded of that information).


Alex

[Steve Holden]

Re: advice on this little script

Paul Rubin wrote:[color=blue]
> John Salerno <johnjsal@NOSPA Mgmail.com> writes:
>[color=green][color=darkred]
>>>for x in range(minutes,0 ,-1):
>>> sleep(60.0)
>>> print minutes, 'minutes remaining'
>>>[/color]
>>
>>Nice! Cross off another line! I feel like Hemingway. :)[/color]
>
>
> Besides the bug mentioned, I don't think you should really do it that
> way, since sleep(60.0) might not sleep for exactly 60 sec (it could be
> longer or shorter). Preferable is something like (untested):
>
> now = time.time()
> sleep_until = now + 60*minutes
> while now < sleep_until:
> print int((now - sleep_until)/60), 'minutes remaining'
> sleep (60)
> now = time.time()
>
> You might actually want to stop sleeping a little bit early (say if
> you wake up 5 seconds before sleep_until), or round the message to the
> nearest number of minutes, etc.[/color]

You might also want to synchronize to a caesium clock, but the guy is
timing his laundry, for Pete's sake! Can we agree your approach, while
theoretically sound, might be a little over-complicated for a first
application?

regards
Steve
--
Steve Holden +44 150 684 7255 +1 800 494 3119
Holden Web LLC/Ltd www.holdenweb.com
Love me, love my blog holdenweb.blogs pot.com

[Kent Johnson]

Re: advice on this little script

Alex Martelli wrote:[color=blue]
> John Salerno <johnjsal@NOSPA Mgmail.com> wrote:
> ...
>[color=green]
>>I think the 'from time import sleep' looks cleaner, because I'm only
>>taking what I need (is an import any more expensive than this from?),
>>but I also feel like the 'time.sleep' syntax is much more
>>self-describing and better to read than just 'sleep'.
>>
>>So what do you guys think between these two choices?[/color][/color]

I use both fairly interchangeably . When I just need one or two things
from the module, or if I am going to use something a lot, I use from xx
import yy.[color=blue]
>
>
> I only use the 'from' statement to import specific modules from a
> package, never to import specific objects (functions, classes, or
> whatever) from a module. It scales much better: when reading a long
> module, I _know_ that any barename X always refers to a local,
> nested-scope, or global name, never to something snatched from
> who-recalls-what module -- in the latter case I'll never see a barename,
> but always somemodule.X, and searching for '... import somemodule' will
> immediately tell me where somemodule was coming from (should I need to
> be reminded of that information).[/color]

If you use from xx import yy, searching for yy will show you its
provenance as well.

From xx import * is evil because it does hide the provenance of names.
It can also give unexpected results - if xx contains from zz import *,
then all of the names from zz will also be imported into the module
importing xx!

Kent

[Grant Edwards]

Re: advice on this little script

On 2006-03-09, John Salerno <johnjsal@NOSPA Mgmail.com> wrote:[color=blue]
> Grant Edwards wrote:[color=green]
>> On 2006-03-09, John Salerno <johnjsal@NOSPA Mgmail.com> wrote:
>>[color=darkred]
>>> from time import sleep
>>>
>>> minutes = input('Enter the number of minutes to wait: ')
>>>
>>> for x in range(minutes):
>>> sleep(1.0)
>>> minutes -= 1
>>> print minutes, 'minutes remaining.'[/color]
>>
>> for x in range(minutes,0 ,-1):
>> sleep(60.0)
>> print minutes, 'minutes remaining'[/color][/color]

print x, 'minutes remaining'

Doh!

--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! Now KEN is having
at a MENTAL CRISIS beacuse
visi.com his "R.V." PAYMENTS are
OVER-DUE!!

[John Salerno]

Re: advice on this little script

Steve Holden wrote:
[color=blue]
> You might also want to synchronize to a caesium clock, but the guy is
> timing his laundry, for Pete's sake! Can we agree your approach, while
> theoretically sound, might be a little over-complicated for a first
> application?[/color]

LOL. Thanks, I was about to fall out of my chair! :)

[John Salerno]

Re: advice on this little script

Alex Martelli wrote:
[color=blue]
> I only use the 'from' statement to import specific modules from a
> package, never to import specific objects (functions, classes, or
> whatever) from a module.[/color]

I like that. So in my case I'd use 'import time' (which I actually
already changed last night). I think especially right now, while I'm new
to Python, it helps me to see 'time.sleep' instead of just 'sleep', so I
can begin to associate certain functions with their proper modules.

Not to mention, like you said, that importing specific pieces like
functions tends to look a little messy in the code when they aren't
qualified.

[Alex Martelli]

Re: advice on this little script

Kent Johnson <kent@kentsjohn son.com> wrote:
...[color=blue]
> If you use from xx import yy, searching for yy will show you its
> provenance as well.[/color]

But when seeing the barename yy, it gives no clue whether the module
you're reading used 'from xx import yy' or defined yy in any other way
(localy, globally, or in any intermediate scope).

'from' has many other disadvantages, such as working badly with reload
_except_ when used specifically to import a module.


Alex

[Alex Martelli]

Re: advice on this little script

John Salerno <johnjsal@NOSPA Mgmail.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
> Alex Martelli wrote:
>[color=green]
> > I only use the 'from' statement to import specific modules from a
> > package, never to import specific objects (functions, classes, or
> > whatever) from a module.[/color]
>
> I like that. So in my case I'd use 'import time' (which I actually
> already changed last night). I think especially right now, while I'm new
> to Python, it helps me to see 'time.sleep' instead of just 'sleep', so I
> can begin to associate certain functions with their proper modules.[/color]

I'm hardly new to Python, yet it keeps helping me too;-).

[color=blue]
> Not to mention, like you said, that importing specific pieces like
> functions tends to look a little messy in the code when they aren't
> qualified.[/color]

I wouldn't call it messy, but rather potentially "confusing" in a large
module with many imports -- in the middle of the module,

a = b(c)

always gives the strong impression that b and cc are local or global (or
from an intermediate lexical scope), while

a = X.b(Y.c)

contains hints suggesting otherwise (if I had no clue what X and Y were
at this point, I'd _first_ check if they were imported modules, while it
would be my last resort in the former snippet regarding b and c).


Alex

[John Salerno]

Re: advice on this little script

Alex Martelli wrote:
[color=blue]
> I'm hardly new to Python, yet it keeps helping me too;-).[/color]

Yeah, from what I hear and read, you know a thing or two about the
language. :)

[BartlebyScrivener]

Re: advice on this little script

There are several of these writing quotes, all good in their own way,
because they emphasize concision as the first order of business for any
writer.

"If I had more time, I would write a short letter."--Blaise Pascal

"If the author had been less industrious, this book would be twice as
long."--Evelyn Waugh

Telegram from Mark Twain's publisher: "NEED 2-PAGE SHORT STORY IN TWO
DAYS." Twain replied: "NO CAN DO 2 PAGES TWO DAYS. CAN DO 30 PAGES 2
DAYS. NEED 30 DAYS TO DO 2 PAGES."

rpd

http://dooling.com

[BartlebyScrivener]

Re: advice on this little script

>>You might also want to synchronize to a caesium clock, but the guy is
timing his laundry, <<

My morning coffee just streamed out of my nose. Air. I need air.

rpd