[Python-3000] Please re-add __cmp__ to python 3000

[Guido van Rossum]

On 10/17/07, David A. Wheeler <dwheeler at dwheeler.com> wrote:
> I said:
> > I agree with Collin Winter: losing __cmp__ is a loss  (see http://oakwinter.com/code/).
>
> Steven Bethard said:
> >Why can't this just be supplied with a mixin?  Here's a recipe
> >providing the appropriate mixins if you want to define a __key__
> >function:
> >    http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Cookbook/Python/Recipe/510403
>
> That _works_ from a functional perspective, and if Python3 fails to include direct support for __cmp__, then I think providing a built-in mixin is necessary.
>
> But mixins for comparison are a BIG LOSER for sort performance if your fundamental operator is a cmp-like function.

However, note that Python's sort() and sorted() are guaranteed to only use '<'.

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