[Python-Dev] conditional expressions?

[Guido van Rossum]

>  > (1) In order to do short-circuiting evaluation, the name would have to
>  >     be recognized by the parser, which means it would have to be a new
>  >     keyword. 
> 
> That surprises me.
> In a conventional compiler architecture,
> I would expect this to be a static analysis and code generation issue.
> In languages that have multiple parameter passing disciplines
> (eg Pascal, Simula), 
> the parser does not track how any given argument is being passed.

This just shows how little you know about how Python is implemented. ;-(

>  > (2) It looks too much like a function call for my comfort.
> 
> I am trying to make the case that it *is* a function call,
> with args 2 & 3 being passed by-name.
> Or at least it can very sensibly be viewed and implemented that way.

Python has no by-name argument passing mechanisms, and adding one just
for this purpose strikes me as the tail wagging the dog.

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