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On Sat, Apr 18, 2020 at 2:41 AM Eric V. Smith <eric@trueblade.com> wrote:
On 4/17/2020 12:28 PM, Chris Angelico wrote:
On Sat, Apr 18, 2020 at 1:54 AM David Mertz <mertz@gnosis.cx> wrote:
Hmmm... I disagree with Chris.
I'm definitely -1 on a magic dangling 'foo=' after variable names. And something less than -1 on the even more magic "Lisp symbol that isn't a symbol" ':foo'.
Those are just ugly and mysterious.
However, I don't HATE the "mode switch" use of '*' or '**' in function calls. I've certainly written plenty of code where I use the same variable name in the calling scope as I bind in the call. Moreover, function *definitions* have an an analogous mode switch with an isolated '*'.
It sounds to me like there's a lot of weak support or weak opposition, with some of it spread between the proposal itself and the individual spellings.
Rodrigo, it may be time to start thinking about writing a PEP. If the Steering Council approves, I would be willing to be a (non-core-dev) sponsor; alternatively, there may be others who'd be willing to sponsor it. A PEP will gather all the different syntax options and the arguments for/against each, and will mean we're not going round and round on the same discussion points all the times.
I've been around for a while, and I can't imagine that any of these proposals would be accepted (but I've been accused of having a bad imagination). I'm saying that not to dissuade anyone from writing a PEP: far from it. I think it would be useful to have this on paper and accepted or rejected, either way. I'm saying this to set expectations: a PEP is a ton of work, and it can be disheartening to put in so much work for something that is rejected.
So, I'd be willing to sponsor such a PEP, but I'd be arguing that it get rejected.
Given the history of previous PEPs with surprising results, I don't want to bet on whether this would be accepted or not, but either way, yes, it will definitely be useful to have it all written down. Rodrigo, if you're willing to write the PEP, I'll happily help you with the technical side of things. ChrisA