[Python-Dev] Changes to PEP 327: Decimal data type

Greg Ewing greg at cosc.canterbury.ac.nz
Wed Mar 17 19:57:11 EST 2004


It _IS_ consistant as I read it:

>     Function Names
> 
>       Plain functions exported by a module can either use the CapWords
>       style or lowercase (or lower_case_with_underscores).  There is
>       no strong preference, but it seems that the CapWords style is
>       used for functions that provide major functionality...

In other words, this so-called style guide doesn't
guide us much at all in this area. :-(

Although it's true that examples of all sorts of styles
can be found in the standard library, from skimming through
the index of the Library Reference, it seems that the
vast majority of function and method names are either
alllowercase or lowercase_with_underscores.

This agrees with my general impression that the oldest
and most fundamental parts of the language and library
seem to use this style. If I were to identify anything
as the "Python style" for naming, this would be it.

Rather than wimping out on the issue, I think this PEP
could perhaps show some leadership and help guide people
towards some kind of consistent naming style. Just
because a hodgepodge has made its way into the library
in the past doesn't mean we should keep doing things
that way.

Greg Ewing, Computer Science Dept, +--------------------------------------+
University of Canterbury,	   | A citizen of NewZealandCorp, a	  |
Christchurch, New Zealand	   | wholly-owned subsidiary of USA Inc.  |
greg at cosc.canterbury.ac.nz	   +--------------------------------------+



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