Skip Montanaro
>> Is there a reason def couldn't have been reused in this context?
Guido> You couldn't reuse def, because lambda can start an expression Guido> which can occur at the start of a line, so a line starting with Guido> def would be ambiguous (Python's parser is intentionally Guido> simple-minded and doesn't like having to look ahead more than one Guido> token).
I'll leave that gauntlet thrown, since I have no interest in rewriting Python's parser. Maybe it will spark John Aycock's interest though. ;-)
Did you miss the "intentionally"? Cheers, M. -- at any rate, I'm satisfied that not only do they know which end of the pointy thing to hold, but where to poke it for maximum effect. -- Eric The Read, asr, on google.com