title: Command-line Options: Should short options be restricted to 1 character?
body: <p>I'm trying to get my head around command-line arguments for Python and have been reading the Standard Library documentation about the <a href="http://docs.python.org/2/library/argparse.html" rel="noreferrer" title="argparse">argparse module</a>.  They mention the concept of short and long form command-line options, with short form options specified with a single dash, <code>-</code> (eg <code>-f</code>), and long form options specified with two dashes, <code>--</code> (eg <code>--filename</code>).</p>
  
  <p>Nowhere does it describe the difference between the short form and long form options, except that one is obviously shorter than the other.  After Googling the concepts it seems to me short form options originated long ago in C.  Back then they were a single character.</p>
  
  <p>My question is, should I continue to use only a single character for short form command-line options in Python?  Is that what users will expect?  Or is it acceptable to use two of three character abbreviations in the short options (eg <code>-fn</code>)? </p>