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I’m quite comfortable with list comprehensions, I’ve been writing them for decades. I like them because they are concise, efficient, more clearly tell the compi

I’m quite comfortable with list comprehensions, I’ve been writing them for decades. I like them because they are concise, efficient, more clearly tell the compiler/interpreter their intent. That said, they are almost always harder to understand than an equivalent for loop with an if statement. A list comprehension by its very nature groups a number of actions into a single expression, it’s harder to break up the parts. Even an experienced developer who sees them all the time and can understand one in a second, would probably take a half second to understand the equivalent for/if statements.

BerislavLopac 8y ago
It all depends on how you approach them. If you see comprehensions as a different form of a for loop, I would tend to agree; but if instead you see them as a different form of a map+filter combination, they suddenly become much more clear.
- speedplane 8y ago
  I agree. If you see comprehensions as map+filter, they make more sense, but it's also exactly that reason that makes them more complex. List comprehensions are basically a watered down gateway drug to functional programming. Everyone who has ever taken a functional programming course loves it (rightly so), and often tries to find places to use it. Comprehensions do quite a bit in a single expression, it's easy to see that inch towards functional programming. However, junior developers haven't taken a functional programming courses. They learn to program instructions or statements line-by-line. They are told (not entirely accurate) that every clock tick, the processor moves forward one unit at a time. Your mind starts to imagine the processor in that way, executing a line and going on to the next. Do this, then move forward, then do that. This is procedural programming. A list comprehension doesn't quite fit that model, because it does quite a bit in a single line (generally map + filter, sometimes reduce). They teach you that units of complexity can generally be broken down line-by-line. Of course list comprehensions can be formatted to multiple lines, but it is intrinsically something quite different. A list comprehension is not a statement (e.g., var foo = b + 5), it's an expression (['b' if x < 1 for x in y]) and a pretty complex expression at that. Junior software developers are taught about statements, going line-by-line. They aren't taught about functional programming or complex expressions. I love python comprehensions, but I wish they were presented in a way that was as easy to understand as a for loop with an if statement. Senior developers wouldn't care, but it would open up a giant world to junior devs.

BerislavLopac 8y ago

It all depends on how you approach them. If you see comprehensions as a different form of a for loop, I would tend to agree; but if instead you see them as a different form of a map+filter combination, they suddenly become much more clear.

speedplane 8y ago
I agree. If you see comprehensions as map+filter, they make more sense, but it's also exactly that reason that makes them more complex. List comprehensions are basically a watered down gateway drug to functional programming. Everyone who has ever taken a functional programming course loves it (rightly so), and often tries to find places to use it. Comprehensions do quite a bit in a single expression, it's easy to see that inch towards functional programming. However, junior developers haven't taken a functional programming courses. They learn to program instructions or statements line-by-line. They are told (not entirely accurate) that every clock tick, the processor moves forward one unit at a time. Your mind starts to imagine the processor in that way, executing a line and going on to the next. Do this, then move forward, then do that. This is procedural programming. A list comprehension doesn't quite fit that model, because it does quite a bit in a single line (generally map + filter, sometimes reduce). They teach you that units of complexity can generally be broken down line-by-line. Of course list comprehensions can be formatted to multiple lines, but it is intrinsically something quite different. A list comprehension is not a statement (e.g., var foo = b + 5), it's an expression (['b' if x < 1 for x in y]) and a pretty complex expression at that. Junior software developers are taught about statements, going line-by-line. They aren't taught about functional programming or complex expressions. I love python comprehensions, but I wish they were presented in a way that was as easy to understand as a for loop with an if statement. Senior developers wouldn't care, but it would open up a giant world to junior devs.