+

On Fri, 13 Nov 2026, 16:06 Edward Leafe, <ed@leafe.com> wrote:

> Earlier this week we learned that Tim Peters died. Tim was probably as

> influential in the development of Python in the early days as Guido van

> Rossum, the creator of the language. He contributed many technical parts,

> including a list sorting algorithm that is taught in CompSci classes today,

> but he was also one of the most patient and helpful people when answering

> questions in the various Python forums.

>

> He was most famous, though, for writing the Zen of Python. It is actually

> buried as an Easter egg in the code:

>

> ed@mac-mini:~$ python3.15

> Python 3.15.2 (main, Oct 25 2026, 16:57:51) [Clang 21.0.0

> (clang-2100.3.34.2)] on darwin

> Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.

> >>> import this

> The Zen of Python, by Tim Peters

>

> Beautiful is better than ugly.

> Explicit is better than implicit.

> Simple is better than complex.

> Complex is better than complicated.

> Flat is better than nested.

> Sparse is better than dense.

> Readability counts.

> Special cases aren't special enough to break the rules.

> Although practicality beats purity.

> Errors should never pass silently.

> Unless explicitly silenced.

> In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess.

> There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it.

> Although that way may not be obvious at first unless you're Dutch.

> Now is better than never.

> Although never is often better than *right* now.

> If the implementation is hard to explain, it's a bad idea.

> If the implementation is easy to explain, it may be a good idea.

> Namespaces are one honking great idea -- let's do more of those!

> >>>

>

>

> -- Ed Leafe

>

>

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>