[Python-ideas] The Pattern Matching Wildcard Is A Bad Idea

June 2, 2021

      From https://docs.python.org/3.10/whatsnew/3.10.html:

def http_error(status):
    match status:
        case 400:
            return "Bad request"
        case 404:
            return "Not found"
        case 418:
            return "I'm a teapot"
        case _:
            return "Something's wrong with the Internet"

The wildcard idea looks just wrong and confusing. What if I want to use it
as a variable and match against it like _ = 504? This is how it should be
done:

def http_error(status):
    _ = 504
    match status:
        case 400:
            return "Bad request"
        case 404:
            return "Not found"
        case 418:
            return "I'm a teapot"
        case _:
            return "Gateway Timeout"
    else:
        return "Something's wrong with the Internet"

[Python-ideas] The Pattern Matching Wildcard Is A Bad Idea

Julia Schmidt