[Python-Dev] @decorators, the PEP and the "options" out there?

[Paramjit Oberoi]

> > on that page; it's only ugly for long decorator definitions, and Guido said
> > he didn't care if a syntax was ugly.  :)

> I hope Guido will see these arguments as being rational ones about
> usability and not irrational ones about aesthetics. At the least,

I'm worried by the thought expressed multiple times today that ugly is
OK and aesthetics don't matter.  I don't think aesthetics can be
separated from usability, and FWIW, I would like to say that as far as
I am concerned, Aesthetics are what make Python what it is.

Yes, the development community is very nice, and so is the standard
library, but the real thing distinguishes Python in my mind is that
the programs are so incredibly nice to look at. It is the beauty of
the programs that has kept me faithful and fanatically devoted to
Python all these years.

Python has gotten more complex over the years, but most of the
additions---list/generator comprehensions, generators, and iterators
in particular---have enhanced aesthetics of the language. I do reaize
that there are some hard problems with decorator syntax, and that even
a somewhat ugly choice will vastly improve some people's lives, but
please don't say ugly is fine and aesthetics are unimportant.

As Tim Peters said in import this, "Beautiful is better than ugly" and
"Readability counts".

-param

PS1: This is just a general comment based on the atmosphere I have
observed today, and not a specific criticism of anyone. Yes, I realize
that when Greg said ,"...see these arguments as being rational ones
about usability and not irrational ones about aesthetics" he meant
that arguments about aesthetics are usually subjective. I apologise if
I'm offending anyone or stating the obvious.

PS2: I like the list-after-def syntax.