[Python-3000] PEP 3124 - Overloading, Generic Functions, Interfaces, etc.

[Paul Moore]

On 11/05/07, Greg Ewing <greg.ewing at canterbury.ac.nz> wrote:
> I'm now even more of the opinion that this is too
> complicated for Python's first generic function system.
> "If it's hard to explain, it's probably a bad idea."

Hmm. My view is that it *is* simple to explain, but unfortunately
Phillip's explanation in the PEP is not that simple explanation :-(

In my view, too much of the PEP is taken up with edge cases,
relatively obscure specialist uses, and unnecessary explanations of
implementation details. However, I haven't had any time recently to
review it in enough detail to offer a concrete proposal on how to
simplify it, so I've kept quiet so far.

I would argue that the PEP could be *very* simple if it restricted
itself to the basic idea. Much of what is being discussed is, in my
view, implementation detail - which Phillip finds compelling because
it shows the power of the basic approach, but which is turning others
off because it's more complex and subtle than a basic use case.

There are many features in Python which are powerful and simple on the
surface, but get quite gory when you delve beneath the covers
(new-style classes, decorators, generators, for example). That doesn't
mean they shouldn't be there.

Paul.