[Python-3000] PEP 3131 - the details

["Martin v. Löwis"]

> Some questions I have: is the defined UID set the same as in the referenced 
> appendix?  

Yes; it was copied from there.

> Is it the same as in Java (and hence Jython)?

No. Not sure whether I can produce a complete list of differences, but
some of them are:
- Java allows $ in identifiers, the PEP doesn't (as is Python tradition)
  (more generally: it allows currency symbols in identifiers)
- Java allows arbitrary connecting punctuators as the start; the PEP
  only allows the underscore
- Java allows "arbitrary" digits in an identifier. I'm not quite sure
  what that means: JLS refers to isJavaIdentifierPart, which specifies
  "a digit" and refers to isLetterOrDigit, which refers to JLS. isDigit
  gives true if the character NAME contains DIGIT, and the digit is
  not in the range U+2000..U+2FFF
  The PEP specifies that digits need to have the Nd class.
  Comparing these two, it seems that Java allows several characters from
  the No class, which Python does not allow.
- Java allows "ignorable control characters" in identifiers, which
  Python doesn't allow.

So, in short, it seems that Python's identifier syntax would be strictly
more restrictive than Java's.

>  The same as in .NET (and hence IronPython)?

This kind of research is time consuming; it cost me an hour to come
up with above list. Please research it for yourself.

Regards,
Martin