[Python-Dev] Python and the Unicode Character Database

[Stephen J. Turnbull]

Antoine Pitrou writes:

 > The legacy format argument looks like a red herring to me. When
 > converting from a format to another it is the programmer's job to
 > his/her job right.

Uhmmmmmm, the argument *for* this "feature" proposed by several people
is that Python's numeric constructors do it (right) so that the
programmer doesn't have to.

If Python *doesn't* do it right, why should Python do it at all?