"The Complexity of Simplicity" - Christopher Neugebauer (PyCon AU 2023)
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(Christopher Neugebauer) Quoth the Zen of Python: “Simple is better than complex”. The Python community has long celebrated simplicity as a virtue, but Pyth...
  • Crul@lemm.ee
    4·
    10 months ago

    Summary generated with claude.ai from the video transcript:

    Christopher Neugebauer discusses how even simple things in Python like print() hide complexity, and how Python has evolved to model more complexity so users can write simpler code. He explores ideas around internal vs external complexity, managing complexity through testing/types, and how our definition of simplicity changes over time with new tools/opinions.

    Key points:

    • Simplicity often hides complexity somewhere in the system
    • We should think about who experiences simplicity vs complexity
    • Python models complexity so users can write simpler code
    • Tools like dependencies and type annotations help manage complexity
    • Definition of “simple” changes over time as tools/opinions evolve
    • We should simplify appropriately for end users, not everywhere
    • Complexity exists; we can choose to contain it or not for users