[Python-Dev] Suggestion for a new built-in - flatten

Brian Harring ferringb at gmail.com
Fri Sep 22 21:26:37 CEST 2006


On Fri, Sep 22, 2006 at 12:05:19PM -0700, Bob Ippolito wrote:
> On 9/22/06, Josiah Carlson <jcarlson at uci.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Michael Foord <fuzzyman at voidspace.org.uk> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hello all,
> > >
> > > I have a suggestion for a new Python built in function: 'flatten'.
> >
> > This has been brought up many times.  I'm -1 on its inclusion, if only
> > because it's a fairly simple 9-line function (at least the trivial
> > version I came up with), and not all X-line functions should be in the
> > standard library.  Also, while I have had need for such a function in
> > the past, I have found that I haven't needed it in a few years.
> 
> I think instead of adding a flatten function perhaps we should think
> about adding something like Erlang's "iolist" support. The idea is
> that methods like "writelines" should be able to take nested iterators
> and consume any object they find that implements the buffer protocol.

Which is no different then just passing in a generator/iterator that 
does flattening.

Don't much see the point in gumming up the file protocol with this 
special casing; still will have requests for a flattener elsewhere.

If flattening was added, should definitely be a general obj, not a 
special casing in one method in my opinion.
~harring
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