title: Python readability through descriptive naming
body: <p>I have been using Python for about a year now, coming from a mostly Java background. I found Python quite easy to learn because of its focus on readability and simple design. The thing I don't understand about python is why for a language that focuses so heavily on readability, it often uses very non-descriptive names for modules, functions, constants etc.. One thing I like about Java is its very descriptive class/attribute/method names (I like objective-C even more for this reason). It seems python programmers in general seem to have taken a C type approach to naming where they use as short names as possible for everything. I know everyone wants to do as little typing as possible but I like a lot of programmers spend the majority of my time reading code rather that writing it so I find the choice between short non-descriptive names and long descriptive names, an easy one to make. (I like longer descriptive names xD)</p>
  
  <p>A few examples, just looking at some modules in the standard library,</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>sched — Event scheduler, Could this have been EventScheduler?</li>
  <li>asyncore — Asynchronous socket handler, AsynchronousSocketHandler?</li>
  <li>imghdr — Determine the type of an image, DetermineImageType?</li>
  <li>Pickle?</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>I know this isn't a huge issue but I find myself more often than not having to look up the meaning of any new (or forgotten) module I come across when in other languages like Objective-C or Java I can get this meaning straight away from the modules/functions/attributes definition. 
  On another note, people tend to write code similar to the way the standard library is written so you can be sure that if the standard library uses non-descriptive names the average developer will use even more non-descriptive names.</p>
  
  <p>I was just wondering does anyone know why this is?</p>