[Python-Dev] Tuple/list assignment question

[Delaney, Timothy C (Timothy)]

Dave Cole wrote:

> Is there any reason why something like this would not be a good idea?
> 
>  >>> a_list = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
>  >>> a, b, *c = a_list
> 
> You could then do things like this:
> 
>  >>> lol = [[1, 2], [3, 4, 5, 6, 7], [8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]]
>  >>> for a, b *c in lol:
> ...

This proposal has come up several times before (for the record, I like
it). I believe there was a particular reason it's never gone forward,
but I can't remember what it was. Unfortunately, it's not an easy thing
to search for in the c.l.py archives :(

I think it's about time this proposal got a PEP of its own ... something
like "Enhanced Tuple Unpacking" (to match "Enhanced Argument Tuples" ...

Tim Delaney