[Python-Dev] (no subject)

[Michael Chermside]

Jim Jewet writes:
> I can't imagine [a conditional] expression small enough that [requiring]
> parentheses really hurt.
>
>     var = t if c else f
>     var = (t if c else f)

This is a good example. I'm now +1 on adding this to PEP 8. I'm +0 on
adding it to the grammer... in the long run it's unlikely to make any
difference.

Steve Holden writes:
> Contrast with the bleeding obvious:
>
>      level = 0
>      if "absolute_import" in self.futures:
>          level = -1

Comparing this to the alternative:

    level = (0 if ("absolute_import" in self.futures) else -1)

In the latter, level clearly takes on values of 0 or -1. In the
former, level has a default value of 0, which is followed by what
appears to be some branching logic.

> or even, if a certain obscurity is desirable:
>
>      level = - ("absolute_import" in self.futures)

The only USE I have ever seen for code obscurity was in writing
certain vote-counting software where the true behavior needed
to remain obscure even in the face of source code publication.[1]

-- Michael Chermside

[1] http://graphics.stanford.edu/~danielrh/vote/scores.html