Zen of Python

I recently came across this little piece by Tim Peters, titled The Zen of Python (the programming language, not the snake). I'm not a programmer, but it seems to me that these principles are relevant to all sorts of creative pursuits, including system development and design (which IS something I do).

I'm not sure I understand everything he's talking about, and I probably think I understand more than I actually do. If I understood more, I might quibble over a line or two. But nonetheless, I think this is worth reading and pondering. And just in case the image above is difficult to read, here it is in plain text:


The Zen of Python
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!