[Python-Dev] small Grammar questions

[Steve Holden]

Steve Holden wrote:
[...]
> The one that surprised me was the legality of
> 
>      def eggs((a, )=c):
>          pass
> 
> That just seems like unpacking-abuse to me.
> 
Needless to say, a call that tries to *use* the default value fails 
horribly, as the parameter form does require an iterable:

 >>> def eggs((a, )=2.1):
...   pass
...
 >>> eggs()
Traceback (most recent call last):
   File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
   File "<stdin>", line 1, in eggs
TypeError: 'float' object is not iterable
 >>> eggs((2.1, ))
 >>>

regards
  Steve
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