[Python-Dev] Re: zip() in Py2.4

[Guido van Rossum]

[Argh! My followup got swallowed by a disconnect.]

The CA air is definitely cool, but I'm not quite settled --
I'm still living in a hotel room with my family, at least until
Friday.

My rationale for zip() refusing to be called without arguments
is that this is more likely a mistake than intentional.

Admittedly I hadn't foreseen using zip(*xxx).

There are two sides to this.

1) Someone mistakenly types zip().  If they get an empty list,
   how confused will they be?  Will their program finish with
   bogus output, or will the empty list cause a speedy failure?

2) How realistic is the use case for zip(*[])?

--Guido