This is a problem I sometimes run into when working with a lot of files simultaneously, where I need three or more `with` statements: with open('foo') as foo: with open('bar') as bar: with open('baz') as baz: pass Thankfully, support for multiple items was added in 3.1: with open('foo') as foo, open('bar') as bar, open('baz') as baz: pass However, this begs the need for a multiline form, especially when working with three or more items: with open('foo') as foo, \ open('bar') as bar, \ open('baz') as baz, \ open('spam') as spam \ open('eggs') as eggs: pass Currently, this works with explicit line continuation, but as all style guides favor implicit line continuation over explicit, it would be nice if you could do the following: with (open('foo') as foo, open('bar') as bar, open('baz') as baz, open('spam') as spam, open('eggs') as eggs): pass Currently, this is a syntax error, since the language specification for `with` is with_stmt ::= "with" with_item ("," with_item)* ":" suite with_item ::= expression ["as" target] as opposed to something like with_stmt ::= "with" with_expr ":" suite with_expr ::= with_item ("," with_item)* | '(' with_item ("," with_item)* ')' This is really just a style issue, furthermore a style issue that requires a change to the languagee grammar (probably, someone who knows for sure please confirm), so at first I thought it wasn't worth mentioning, but I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks.