[Python-Dev] Re: Python history: origin of the arrow annotation

On Fri, 5 Mar 2021, 9:10 pm Steven D'Aprano, <steve@pearwood.info> wrote:

I was curious how and why return annotations use the arrow `->` symbol, so I went spelunking into the depths of the Python-Ideas and Python-Dev mailing lists.

Much to my surprise, I couldn't find any discussion or debate about it.

If you haven't already, also try to track down any PEP 3107 discussions on the python-3000 mailing list. I don't actually recall any major debate over the syntax of function annotations though - the only controversy I can recall was over whether or not it was a good idea to add the syntax before we had a solid plan for the standard associated semantics. Cheers, Nick.