[Python-ideas] Statements vs Expressions... why?

[Adam Olsen]

On Fri, Sep 12, 2008 at 1:29 PM, Cliff Wells <cliff at develix.com> wrote:
> A slow boat still reaches its destination.  My position is that by
> obviating the need for a large class of syntax extensions, the onus is
> moved from the Python core team onto the user desiring a particular
> extension and by doing so, things like community pressure to add X can
> be reduced and by extension, the likelihood of the process folding under
> that pressure becomes much less likely.

Again, a vast difference in what we consider complexity.

For a user, does it matter that we use "len(foo)" rather than "len
foo"?  A little bit, but it's not huge.

For the language developers, does it matter?  Again, it's a small
benefit.  It's still our job to design it, not a third-party.  Syntax
and stdlib are both part of the language.

All the things you think we might avoid by being more "functional",
we'd still have to do them, saving nothing.  Except all the details
suggest *worse* solutions would be found, as we wouldn't be
fine-tuning the syntax for the use-cases.

The only genuine use-case for your changes I've seen in this whole
thread is the dispatch-dict, but your changes are far too distract to
justify it.


As an aside, I can't speak for Guido, but I haven't seen any
indication python's development process may collapse.  It's a
non-problem.

-- 
Adam Olsen, aka Rhamphoryncus