Zac Burns wrote:
You'd better be careful with it. The "current directory" is process-wide and so modifying it in a thread will affect all other threads in your program. I'm not saying all programs have this characteristic, but relying on the current directory rather than explicit paths isn't always a good idea...
I agree with Antoine, but would go further to say that making it a default argument is an enablement - just making it easier for people to follow a bad pattern.
This doesn't apply to all default arguments of course, just that the working directory is "considered harmful" and we probably shouldn't make changes that make it easier for people to use.
When you open() files do you always use full path? Why don't we eliminate all modules and built-in function that uses relative path by default then? That way we will always be safe? Making open(), etc raise RelativePathError if using relative path.