[Python-3000] Support for PEP 3131

[Ka-Ping Yee]

On Thu, 24 May 2007, Jim Jewett wrote:
> So how about
>
> (1)  By default, python allows only ASCII.
> (2)  Additional characters are permitted if they appear in a table
> named on the command line.
>
> These additional characters should be restricted to code points larger
> than ASCII (so you can't easily turn "!" into an ID char), but beyond
> that, anything goes.  If you want to include punctuation or undefined
> characters, so be it.

+1!  This is a fine solution.  It is better than the "python -U"
option I proposed -- it has all the advantages of that proposal, plus:

    - The identifier character set won't spontaneously change when
      one upgrades to a new version of Python, even for users of
      non-ASCII identifiers.

    - Having to specify the table of acceptable characters
      demonstrates at least some knowledge of the character set
      one is using.

    - It provides the flexibility for different communities to
      to adopt identifier conventions that suit their preferred
      tradeoff of risk vs. expressiveness.

Jim's proposal appears to be the best path to making everyone happy.


-- ?!ng