[Python-Dev] Re: 2.4a2, and @decorators

Jim Fulton jim at zope.com
Wed Aug 4 15:46:55 CEST 2004


Terry Reedy wrote:

...

> Decorators will add complexity, regardless of syntax. 

Especially in their current over-powered form.  If decorators didn't have to
take arguments, then you could use a syntax like:

   def classmethod foo(cls, ...):
       ...

This does add complexity, but I think it enhances understandability.

I understand why some people want to be able to pass arguments to decorators,
but frankly, I find many of the examples of doing so down right scary.


 > An advantage of the
> @ syntax is than it makes the complexiity separable and ignorable for
> someone learning/teaching basic Python,

I don't agree that they are ignorable.  People will see them in code
and will *have* to understand what they mean.  Given sme examples
I've seen here, this will sometimes be a significant chalenge.

Jim

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