[xi]

I, for one, prefer fors and ifs to high order functions when reading and writing Python code. I use the latter very sparingly and only when it does not violate the overall "pseudocode" feel of the code. For that, generator expressions and functions like `any`, `all`, `sum` are of great help.

For example, I have nothing against the code like this:

    if any(foo.is_cond for foo in foos):
        do(bar)

but I cringe when I see `import functools, operator`, `reduce` or complex nested list comprehensions.

It may work better in ML-derived functional languages because function definitions there, both anonymous and named, are extremely lightweight. This part of the language is highly optimized by necessity as high order functions is the only way to express iteration and other control flow constructs. But in Python, though not particularly heavyweight, function definitions don't mix well with regular code.

Also I'm not sure if the author is completely fair with his loop example. Add a few local variables, `break` or `continue`, and the high order form may actually become less intuitive.