Learning involves seeing evidence and building concepts. In other words, seeing examples and telling a story.

DBE is a collection of Python code examples. SPE is intended to be a dialect for talking about DBE examples.

(DBE = Document By Example, SPE = Simple Python English)

Here's a Python code snippet. How does it work?

>>> tmp = iter(range(6))
>>> list(zip(tmp, tmp))
[(0, 1), (2, 3), (4, 5)]

Some people can learn a lot from this example. Others might want warm-up exercises, such as

>>> tmp = range(3)
>>> list(tmp), list(tmp)
([0, 1, 2], [0, 1, 2])

>>> tmp = iter(range(3))
>>> list(tmp), list(tmp)
([0, 1, 2], [])

The main purpose of Document By Example is to build a collection of such examples (and exercises).

Show-and-tell involves examples and words. Shared languages aid global communication. How best to share with the world our DBE examples?

English is a popular second (or third) language. But to work, it has to be simple. Prefer common words. Explain unusual and technical terms. And it has to be unambiguous.

Close the object.

The object is close.

Does close mean near, or shut? Also, we have the technical term closure. How easy is this, when English is the reader's third language?

Sometimes, language errors can be expensive and dangerous. Aerospace experts developed Simplified Technical English for aircraft maintenance manuals.

Simple Python English wishes to do something similar, but for Python. It is the companion to the DBE examples.