Ok agreed on .update and .extend. Two operators (+= and <==) doing the same thing is dumb. And for .append I agree "this thing is the same, just add this thing" is a little at odds with "update this thing when i send this other thing into it".

I have to admit, I *kind of* love this one. 

 

 For reading, can't you just switch the order?

fstream <== x  # write into existing stream

x <== fstream  # read into existing object (ie, this is NOT an assignment type of action-- this might be confusing)

Worth pointing out that fstream is a type of iterator, so might writing just be thought of as a specific case of sending into a generator? Similarly: reading is yield from the generator. Of course you'd have a battle to the death over whether the read should be Unicode based (reading lines) or reading a byte at a time.

On the original topic: I was wondering the other day if the HDL thing could most conveniently be implemented using a generator-like class that allows things sent into it. But the .send syntax doesn't help the problem the OP was trying to solve of ugly syntax.

I'm beginning to wonder of associating an operator with .send makes a lot sense. I think I would definitely find code more readable with that kind of syntax.