[Python-Dev] copy, len and the like as 'object' methods?

[Guido van Rossum]

> Actually, I couldn't care less about #1 or #2.  Paul and I hold our own
> against Perl folks every day =), and I'm not a fan of pure-OO'ness.  I
> do try to make _learning_ Python as easy as possible, and
> inconsistencies such as this one do get in the way.

This one seems to be something that you stumble over once, and then
get used to.

> People who learn the language ask things like "how do I make a copy of
> something?" and the answer to that is currently quite complicated.  It
> just gets in the way, and it wastes synapses.

Maybe they are asking the wrong question.  I think that copying isn't
all that important in Python -- that's why it's in a module.

> My only point is that if the language were to be designed today, my
> guess is that those things would be methods (or interfaces :-).

Sure.  But they're not so broken as to warrant a redesign.  There are
more important battles.

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