Hello, On Mon, 30 Nov 2020 17:26:00 -0500 David Mertz <mertz@gnosis.cx> wrote:
On Mon, Nov 30, 2020, 5:20 AM Paul Sokolovsky
So, if anything, we're re-tracing JavaScript steps. We're in dire need of const'ness in the language.
Somehow I've used Python for 22 years without experiencing that direness.
I've taught thousands of students already experienced in other languages (most with constants) without anyone noting the need). I've been *read* by MILLIONS of readers using Python without mentioning the need to me.
I suspect someone will eventually write a drama along the lines of "Best-kept Secret from the Python Community", second only to Oedipus Rex. Perhaps, you were talking to the wrong people? Perhaps you should teach students like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2IQP8iug3c ? That guy reached only 0.3M, not millions like you, but spread the word that Python is slow. And the const is the cheapest way to make Python a tad faster (for sure open up possibilities for further optimizations), which should be accessible even to such an old clumsy behemoth as CPython. (Alternative, recently quoted, is to spend $1+M on that. https://mail.python.org/archives/list/python-dev@python.org/message/RDXLCH22...) And I'm mentioning just that usecase with a bow to my fixation on Python JITting, other people already mentioned more.
Somehow "dire" doesn't strike me as the right word.... Maybe you were looking for "conceivably useful in niche cases."?
Perhaps we can bargain on "really useful in many cases". -- Best regards, Paul mailto:pmiscml@gmail.com