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List:       python-edu-sig
Subject:    [Edu-sig] More on namespaces and dot notation...
From:       "kirby urner" <kirby.urner () gmail ! com>
Date:       2008-10-21 17:11:05
Message-ID: f604188c0810211011s44e0006cr26499f8ae6783f38 () mail ! gmail ! com
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In preparing for this IEEE talk I'm delivering on Nov 4 (USA election
night) @ Armory, venue for this play I'm involved with, I'm looking at
"namespaces" and "dot notation" as integral concepts within
contemporary philosophy (where I have much background).

For example, early in the 1900s, the academic community was in much
ferment over this idea of a "fourth dimension", with many fringe
elements, esoteric think tanks etc., entering the fray.  Linda D.
Henderson did a good book on this, spun as art history, includes
characters such as Claude Bragdon, P.D. Ouspensky among others.

Roll the tape forward, and we have two different, yet well established
namespaces wherein a "fourth dimension" occurs, one associated with
Minkowski, later Einstein, another associated with sphere packing,
e.g. (0,1,0,0,0,0) would be the center of a sphere, with (1,0,0,0,0,0)
a neighboring sphere in n-dimensional space, the n relating to n ==
len(coord_tuple) being a true statement.  So, using dot notation, we
might write einstein.4d to signify the relativistic imaginary time
literature championed in our time by Stephen Hawking, and exyz.4d to
signify a fourth dimension per extended Euclideanism, well explained
in that book by Sloane and J.H. Conway, published by Springer-Verlag
(the exact title escapes me at the moment).

Of course given the content of the IEEE talk (the play), I'll be
adding yet another namespace into the mix, talking about fuller.4d,
maybe changing exyz.4d to Coxeter.4d for this audience, for arcane
historical reasons.  The names we give namespaces is itself part of
the namespace e.g. 'import math as toolbox'
(except at my grunch.net/synergetics which is like an old museum
exhibit by this time, and through which many people find me). or
whatever.

For purposes of discussion, and apropos edu-sig, you could look at all
of the above as branching off 'import this' and wanting to explain
*exactly why* Namespaces are one honking great idea -- let's do more
of those!

Kirby
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