[Python-Dev] PEP 492: What is the real goal?

[Oscar Benjamin]

On 30 April 2015 at 09:50, Arnaud Delobelle <arnodel at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I'm flexible about how we name 'async def' functions.  I like
>> to call them "coroutines", because that's what they are, and
>> that's how asyncio calls them.  It's also convenient to use
>> 'coroutine-object' to explain what is the result of calling
>> a coroutine.
>
> I'd like the object created by an 'async def' statement to be called a
> 'coroutine function' and the result of calling it to be called a
> 'coroutine'.

That would be an improvement over the confusing terminology in the PEP
atm. The PEP proposes to name the inspect functions
inspect.iscoroutine() and inspect.iscoroutinefunction(). According to
the PEP iscoroutine() identifies "coroutine objects" and
iscoroutinefunction() identifies "coroutine functions" -- a term which
is not defined in the PEP but presumably means what the PEP calls a
"coroutine" in the glossary.

Calling the async def function an "async function" and the object it
returns a "coroutine" makes for the clearest terminology IMO (provided
the word coroutine is not also used for anything else). It would help
to prevent both experienced and new users from confusing the two
related but necessarily distinct concepts. Clearly distinct
terminology makes it easier to explain/discuss something if nothing
else because it saves repeating definitions all the time.


--
Oscar