Ka-Ping Yee
Might as well summarize the other suggestions so far:
return if x > 0: x else -x return x > 0 ? x else -x
Mixing ? or : with a keyword is just *ugly*. Yes, I know I said I wasn't that interested in arguing syntax, but these make my gorge rise.
return x > 0 ? x : -x
I think the other suggestions are making this one look better. At this point I have to like either this or the algol68 style Guido mentioned. -- <a href="http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr">Eric S. Raymond</a> The conclusion is thus inescapable that the history, concept, and wording of the second amendment to the Constitution of the United States, as well as its interpretation by every major commentator and court in the first half-century after its ratification, indicates that what is protected is an individual right of a private citizen to own and carry firearms in a peaceful manner. -- Report of the Subcommittee On The Constitution of the Committee On The Judiciary, United States Senate, 97th Congress, second session (February, 1982), SuDoc# Y4.J 89/2: Ar 5/5