[Python-3000] symbols?

["Martin v. Löwis"]

Kendall Clark wrote:
> Thanks, Martin. That is, in fact, pretty much what I'd like to see in
> Py3K, modulo the issue about getattr.

The question is still: why? In Smalltalk, symbols are used to denote
names (methods/selector names and class names); this apparently isn't
your intention (and I do believe strings serve fine as names, no need
for a new datatype - except that it should support Unicode).

So the only advantage I can see is the simplified typing: instead of
typing two quotation marks, you type a single colon. It might be
a saving on your keyboard that you don't have to press the shift key
(is colon available unshifted on US keyboards?); I have to press
the shift key either way (: is shift-.; " is shift-2).

Regards,
Martin