[Python-3000] Making strings non-iterable

[Guido van Rossum]

On 4/17/06, Ian Bicking <ianb at colorstudy.com> wrote:
> The proposal wasn't to remove iterability in general, only to require
> the use of an explicit method when iterating over strings.  It's not a
> huge change by any means; a speed bump for a small number of people,
> perhaps, but no real functionality would be removed.  Backward
> compatibility is also certainly a concern -- and what seems to have
> soured Guido on the idea as much as anything -- but that doesn't seem to
> be what has you bothered.

"A speed bump for a small number of people"? "No real functionality
remove"? You gotta be kidding. It drops polymorphism between strings
and other sequences. This is not just of theoretical value -- difflib
relies on this, for example. Your (earlier) assertion that the stdlib
is atypical is wishful thinking; the stdlib contains lots of code just
like code written by regular people. Perhaps you've had Perl on your
mind too much recently?

Ian, please admit defeat when it stares you in the eyes. This change
just isn't going to happen.  It's pushing up the daisies. It's joined
the choir invisible. THIS IS AN EX-PROPOSAL!

--
--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)