Why is list comprehension called so in Python?
Question:
I know Python is not the first language to have list comprehension.
I’m just interested in the history of the name.
I’m particularly interested in why it’s called comprehension
Why is list comprehension called so in Python?
Answers:
The history section of the wikipedia page discusses a little on where it came from.
List_comprehension#History
The name comes from the concept of a set-comprehension
Comprehension is used here to mean complete inclusion or complete description. A set-comprehension is a (usually short) complete description of a set, not an exhaustive (and possibly infinite) enumeration.
Because it’s a very comprehensive way to describe a sequence (a set in math and other languages, and a list/sequence in Python).
“Comprehension” used to mean not only “understanding,” but “inclusion” in logic. Oxford English Dictionary has the following: “I.4. Logic The sum of the attributes comprehended in a notion or concept; intension” as the fourth subdefinition under the first definition, “Inclusion, comprising.” I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the usage passed into the history of mathematics through there. In a list or set comprehension, instead of giving the elements of the list or set explicitly, the programmer is describing what they comprehend (in the “include” sense) with an expression.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprehend
3 – to include by construction or implication
I know Python is not the first language to have list comprehension.
I’m just interested in the history of the name.
I’m particularly interested in why it’s called comprehension
Why is list comprehension called so in Python?
The history section of the wikipedia page discusses a little on where it came from.
List_comprehension#History
The name comes from the concept of a set-comprehension
Comprehension is used here to mean complete inclusion or complete description. A set-comprehension is a (usually short) complete description of a set, not an exhaustive (and possibly infinite) enumeration.
Because it’s a very comprehensive way to describe a sequence (a set in math and other languages, and a list/sequence in Python).
“Comprehension” used to mean not only “understanding,” but “inclusion” in logic. Oxford English Dictionary has the following: “I.4. Logic The sum of the attributes comprehended in a notion or concept; intension” as the fourth subdefinition under the first definition, “Inclusion, comprising.” I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the usage passed into the history of mathematics through there. In a list or set comprehension, instead of giving the elements of the list or set explicitly, the programmer is describing what they comprehend (in the “include” sense) with an expression.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprehend
3 – to include by construction or implication