[Tutor] need help with first program (original) (raw)

Brian van den Broek bvande at po-box.mcgill.ca
Mon Jul 26 00:10:58 CEST 2004

operate777 at adelphia.net said unto the world upon 25/07/2004 17:41:

i've read the tutorial, but i still don't get whats spam and input.

Tutor maillist - Tutor at python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor

Hi,

you really have to give people a bit more context for them to help you ;-)

Take a look at <http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html>. Really. (It is one of the things I suggested in my reply to your previous post.)

"spam" is nothing more than python people's way of saying "some stuff here" or "replace this with something meaningful to your context". Its just a placeholder with a conventional name so you can tell you aren't supposed to literally use it. Most languages use "foo" and "bar" in their examples, but python folk like "spam" because of a Monty Python sketch involving that word. (This will also account for the occasional reference to lumberjacks and the Spanish Inquisition ;-)

Best,

brian vdB

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