[Python-3000] Use cases for type annotations? (WAS: Type parameterization)

[Paul Moore]

On 5/21/06, Phillip J. Eby <pje at telecommunity.com> wrote:
> I'm confused as to why nobody seems to have noticed my proposal or
> prototype.  So far my speculation is that it's outside of most people's
> ability to perceive, because it moots all the things they're arguing
> about.  That is, it makes everything way too easy for anybody to pay
> attention to it.  :)

Possibly because there were a number of prototypes around at the time,
with varying capabilities? It was pretty hard to keep track of which
was which, and this one obviously slipped through the cracks (that's
certainly true for me - possibly I assumed your comments referred to
RuleDispatch, rather than a new prototype).

My feeling is that the whole generic function discussion lost momentum
at the point where it became clear that:

(a) Simple implementations weren't too hard to build as library code, and
(b) Using them pervasively was a significant paradigm shift, and
people weren't sure about that.

Maybe just having a single "blessed" implementation of a function
overloading module in the stdlib (even in the 2.x series) would be the
best place to start. With a bit more real-world experience, it would
be easier to see if there was call for integrating the concept more
deeply into the core.

Paul