[Python-3000] More PEP 3101 changes incoming

[Greg Ewing]

Guido wrote:
> I remember a language that did the *** thing; it was called Fortran.
> It was an absolutely terrible feature.

I agree that expanding the field width is much to be
preferred if possible. But if you *must* have a maximum
field width, it's better to show no number at all than
a number with some of its digits invisibly chopped
off.

 > So I think a maximum width is quite unnecessary for numbers.

I agree with that.

By the way, I've always thought the reason C has maximum
widths for string formats is so you can deal with strings
which are not null-terminated, an issue that doesn't
arise in Python.

--
Greg