[Python-Dev] PEP 30XZ: Simplified Parsing

[Alexey Borzenkov]

On 4/30/07, Jim Jewett <jimjjewett at gmail.com> wrote:
>     Python initially inherited its parsing from C.  While this has
>     been generally useful, there are some remnants which have been
>     less useful for python, and should be eliminated.
>
>     + Implicit String concatenation
>
>     + Line continuation with "\"

I don't know if I can vote, but if I could I'd be -1 on this. Can't
say I'm using continuation often, but there's one case when I'm using
it and I'd like to continue using it:

    #!/usr/bin/env python
    """\
    Usage: some-tool.py [arguments...]

        Does this and that based on its arguments"""

    if condition:
        print __doc__
        sys.exit(1)

This way usage immediately stands out much better, without any
unnecessary new lines.

Best regards,
Alexey.