[Python-Dev] Re: would warnings be appropriate for probably-misused global statements?

[Jeremy Hylton]

>>>>> "GvR" == Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org> writes:

  GvR> Global outside a function would seem easy to detect (at least
  GvR> as easy as return outside a function), but you need to be
  GvR> careful: in a string passed to the exec statement, one could
  GvR> have distinct locals and globals, and then 'global x' outside a
  GvR> function would make sense.  Also, 'global x' makes sense inside
  GvR> a class statement.

IIRC I added a warning/error to the compiler about global at the
module level, but later removed it because it was too hard
(impossible?) to determine whether a block of code was being compiled
to exec or being compiled for the body of a module.  Anyone interested
could check the CVS log for compile.c.

  GvR> But I'm not excited about this.  A similar amount of analysis
  GvR> can discover assigning to a variable that's not used.  Isn't
  GvR> that more useful?  Using a name that's not defined anywhere.
  GvR> Etc.  There are tons of these things.  PyChecker watches for
  GvR> all of them.  I'd prefer to make a project out of integrating
  GvR> PyChecker functionality into Python, eventually, rather than
  GvR> attacking random things one at a time

I didn't check myself, because I agree with you on this point.

Jeremy