+M to reject. On 6/16/05, Raymond Hettinger <raymond.hettinger@verizon.net> wrote:
While the majority of Python users deem this to be a nice-to-have feature, the community has been unable to reach a consensus on the proper syntax after more than two years of intensive debate (the PEP was introduced in early April 2003).
Most agree that there should be only-one-way-to-do-it; however, the proponents are evenly split into two camps, with the modernists preferring IX for nine and the classicists preferring VIIII which was the most likely spelling in ancient Rome.
The classicists not only rely on set-in-stone tradition, they point to pragmatic issues such as avoidance of subtraction, ease of coding, easier mental parsing (much less error prone), and ease of teaching to beginners. They assert that the modernists have introduced unnecessary algorithmic complexity just to save two keystrokes.
The modernists point to compatible Java implementations and current grade school textbooks. They believe that users from other languages will expect the IX form. Note however, not all the modernists agree on whether MXM would be a well-formed spelling of 1990; most, but not all prefer MCMXC despite its likelihood of being mis-parsed on a first reading.
There is also a small but vocal user group demanding that lowercase forms be allowed. Their use cases fall into four categories: (i) academia, (ii) the legal profession, (iii) research paper writing, and (iv) powerpoint slideshows. Reportedly, this is also a common convention among Perl programmers.
Links:
http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/waymac/History%20A/A%20Term%201/1.%20Rome/R oman_Numerals.htm http://www.sizes.com/numbers/roman_numerals.htm
Raymond
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