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| -rw-r--r-- | Doc/tut/glossary.tex | 51 |
1 files changed, 26 insertions, 25 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/tut/glossary.tex b/Doc/tut/glossary.tex index 0c9cfc5..b8b8309 100644 --- a/Doc/tut/glossary.tex +++ b/Doc/tut/glossary.tex @@ -5,28 +5,21 @@ \begin{description} -\index{...} -\item[\code{.\code{.}.}] -The typical Python prompt of the interactive shell when entering code -for an indented code block. \index{>>>} \item[\code{>\code{>}>}] The typical Python prompt of the interactive shell. Often seen for code examples that can be tried right away in the interpreter. -\index{__slots__} -\item[__slots__] -A declaration inside a \emph{new-style class} that saves memory by -pre-declaring space for instance attributes and eliminating instance -dictionaries. Though popular, the technique is somewhat tricky to get -right and is best reserved for rare cases where there are large -numbers of instances in a memory critical application. +\index{...} +\item[\code{.\code{.}.}] +The typical Python prompt of the interactive shell when entering code +for an indented code block. \index{BDFL} \item[BDFL] Benevolent Dictator For Life, a.k.a. \ulink{Guido van -Rossum}{http://www.python.org/~guido/}, Python's creator. +Rossum}{http://www.python.org/\textasciitilde{}guido/}, Python's creator. \index{byte code} \item[byte code] @@ -34,8 +27,8 @@ The internal representation of a Python program in the interpreter. The byte code is also cached in the \code{.pyc} and \code{.pyo} files so that executing the same file is faster the second time (compilation from source to byte code can be saved). This -\emph{intermediate language} is said to run on a \emph{virtual -machine} that calls the subroutines corresponding to each bytecode. +``intermediate language'' is said to run on a ``virtual +machine'' that calls the subroutines corresponding to each bytecode. \index{classic class} \item[classic class] @@ -47,8 +40,8 @@ Any class which does not inherit from \class{object}. See Converting data from one type to another. For example, {}\code{int(3.15)} coerces the floating point number to the integer, {}\code{3}. Most mathematical operations have rules for coercing -their arguments to a common type. For instance, adding \code{3 + -4.5}, causes the integer \code{3} to be coerced to be a float +their arguments to a common type. For instance, adding \code{3+4.5}, +causes the integer \code{3} to be coerced to be a float {}\code{3.0} before adding to \code{4.5} resulting in the float {}\code{7.5}. @@ -85,15 +78,15 @@ fast style is characterized by the presence of many \keyword{try} and \item[__future__] A pseudo module which programmers can use to enable new language features which are not compatible with the current interpreter. For -example, the expression \code{11 / 4} currently evaluates to \code{2}. -If the module in which it is executed had enabled emph{true division} +example, the expression \code{11/4} currently evaluates to \code{2}. +If the module in which it is executed had enabled \emph{true division} by executing: \begin{verbatim} from __future__ import division \end{verbatim} -the expression \code{11 / 4} would evaluate to \code{2.75}. By +the expression \code{11/4} would evaluate to \code{2.75}. By actually importing the \refmodule[future]{__future__} module and evaluating its variables, you can see when a new feature was first added to the language and when it will become the default: @@ -127,7 +120,7 @@ processes can access the same memory at the same time. Locking the entire interpreter makes it easier for the interpreter to be multi-threaded, at the expense of some parallelism on multi-processor machines. Efforts have been made in the past to create a -"free-threaded" interpreter (one which locks shared data at a much +``free-threaded'' interpreter (one which locks shared data at a much finer granularity), but performance suffered in the common single-processor case. @@ -150,7 +143,7 @@ example as a key in a dictionary. \index{integer division} \item[integer division] Mathematical division discarding any remainder. For example, the -expression \code{11 / 4} currently evaluates to \code{2} in contrast +expression \code{11/4} currently evaluates to \code{2} in contrast to the \code{2.75} returned by float division. Also called {}\emph{floor division}. When dividing two integers the outcome will always be another integer (having the floor function applied to it). @@ -180,7 +173,7 @@ a shorter development/debug cycle than compiled ones. See also \index{iterable} \item[iterable] A container object capable of returning its members one at a time. -Examples of iterables include all sequence types (such as\class{list}, +Examples of iterables include all sequence types (such as \class{list}, {}\class{str}, and \class{tuple}) and some non-sequence types like {}\class{dict} and \class{file} and objects of any classes you define with an \method{__iter__()} or \method{__getitem__()} method. Iterables @@ -190,7 +183,7 @@ iterable object is passed as an argument to the builtin function {}\function{iter()}, it returns an iterator for the object. This iterator is good for one pass over the set of values. When using iterables, it is usually not necessary to call \function{iter()} or -deal with iterator objects yourself---the \code{for} statement does +deal with iterator objects yourself. The \code{for} statement does that automatically for you, creating a temporary unnamed variable to hold the iterator for the duration of the loop. See also {}\emph{iterator}, \emph{sequence}, and \emph{generator}. @@ -281,7 +274,7 @@ global namespace. Any class that inherits from \class{object}. This includes all built-in types like \class{list} and \class{dict}. Only new-style classes can use Python's newer, versatile features like -{}\var{__slots__}, descriptors, properties, +{}\method{__slots__}, descriptors, properties, \method{__getattribute__()}, class methods, and static methods. \index{Python3000} @@ -289,6 +282,14 @@ classes can use Python's newer, versatile features like A mythical python release, allowed not to be backward compatible, with telepathic interface. +\index{__slots__} +\item[__slots__] +A declaration inside a \emph{new-style class} that saves memory by +pre-declaring space for instance attributes and eliminating instance +dictionaries. Though popular, the technique is somewhat tricky to get +right and is best reserved for rare cases where there are large +numbers of instances in a memory critical application. + \index{sequence} \item[sequence] An \emph{iterable} which supports efficient element access using @@ -304,6 +305,6 @@ rather than integers. \item[Zen of Python] Listing of Python design principles and philosophies that are helpful in understanding and using the language. The listing can be found by -typing \code{import this} at the interactive prompt. +typing ``\code{import this}'' at the interactive prompt. \end{description} |