Bill Bumgarner wrote:
On Thursday, Jan 2, 2003, at 21:13 US/Eastern, python-dev-request@python.org wrote:
map, reduce, filter, apply: They are just abstractions which take a function and let them work on arguments in certain ways. They are almost obsolete now since they can be replaced by powerful constructs like comprehensions and the very cute asterisk calls.
Short answer: -1 for removing map/reduce/filter/apply unless doing so will vastly improve the Python core (i.e. less size, greater speed, smaller footprint -- some combination in a usefully large fashion).
Personally, I find comprehensions and very cute asterisk calls to be incredibly unreadable.
I think it is a little too late to recognize this *now*. Also I agree that comprehensions are not my favorite construct, since I personally like the functional approach. Where I absolutely cannot follow you is why you dislike the asterisk notation so much? I see this as one of the most elegant addition to Python of the last years, since it creates a symmetric treatment of argument definition and argument passing. Anyway, this is not the place to discuss personal taste. My message only tried to spell that map, filter and reduce can be easily emulated, while lambda cannot. It is a unique feature. ciao - chris -- Christian Tismer :^) <mailto:tismer@tismer.com> Mission Impossible 5oftware : Have a break! Take a ride on Python's Johannes-Niemeyer-Weg 9a : *Starship* http://starship.python.net/ 14109 Berlin : PGP key -> http://wwwkeys.pgp.net/ work +49 30 89 09 53 34 home +49 30 802 86 56 pager +49 173 24 18 776 PGP 0x57F3BF04 9064 F4E1 D754 C2FF 1619 305B C09C 5A3B 57F3 BF04 whom do you want to sponsor today? http://www.stackless.com/