I got bit by this quite recently, leaving out a comma in a long list of strings and I only found the bug by accident. This being python "ideas" I'll throw one out. Add another prefix character to strings: a = [m'abc' 'def'] # equivalent to ['abcdef'] A string with an m prefix is continued on one or more following lines. A string must have an m prefix to be continued (but this change would have to be phased in). A conversion tool need merely recognize the string continuations and insert m's. I chose the m character for multi-line but the character choice is available for bikeshedding. The m prefix can be combined with u and/or r but not with triple-quotes. The following are not allowed: b = ['abc' # syntax error (m is required for continuation) 'def') c = [m'abc'] # syntax error (when m is used, continuation lines must be present) d = [m'abc' m'def'] # syntax error (m only allowed for first string) The reason to prohibit cases c and d guard against comma errors with these forms. Consider these cases with missing or extra commas. e = [m'abc', # extra comma causes syntax error 'def'] f = [m'abc' # missing comma causes syntax error m'def', 'ghi'] Yes, I know this doesn't guard against all comma errors. You could protect against more with prefix and suffix (e.g., an m at the end of the last string) but I'm skeptical it's worth it. Conversion to this could be done in three stages: (1) accept m's (case a), deprecate missing m's (case b), error for misused m's (case c-f) (2) warn on missing m's (case b) (3) error on missing m's (case b) --- Bruce Latest blog post: Alice's Puzzle Page http://www.vroospeak.com Learn how hackers think: http://j.mp/gruyere-security