Travis Oliphant, creator of NumPy the array package for Python, wrote a analog to the Zen of Python for NumPy:

Strided is better than scattered
Contiguous is better than strided
Descriptive is better than imperative (use data-types)
Array-oriented is often better than object-oriented
Broadcasting is a great idea -- use where possible
Vectorized is better than an explicit loop
Unless it’s complicated --- then use numexpr, weave, or Cython
Think in higher dimensions

I tried something for IDL last year.