[Python-ideas] Making colons optional?

[Riobard Zhan]

On 5-Feb-09, at 3:36 PM, Andre Roberge wrote:
>
>
>> Yes I agree with you that many people like colons. What bothers me  
>> is that
>> some people dislike them, but not given the choice to avoid them.  
>> We don't
>> like semicolons in Python, but what would stop a hard-core C users  
>> to end
>> every statement with a semicolon? They have the choice.
>>
>
> I have seen *very* few code samples where semi-colon were used - and
> most were by people just learning Python (and familiar with some other
> language).  If it were up to me, semi-colon would not be allowed -
> again, for consistency.

Semicolons are bad but are because you'll need them sometimes for one- 
liners. You can use colons too if you wish. Now the inconsistency is  
that semicolons are optional but colons are required. I did not  
propose to eliminate colons all together; just make them optional so  
we have the choice.

>> And I would also argue that many of those like colons not because  
>> they
>> really feel colons improve readability, but that they have get used  
>> to
>> colons in the first place. You like colons, I don't. How do you  
>> know another
>> Python user will like them or not? By making trailing colons  
>> OPTIONAL, we
>> can probably have the chance to field test. If people really think  
>> colons
>> improve readability that much, they can still use them, just like  
>> we feel
>> semicolons are line noise and void them if possible, even though we  
>> CAN use
>> them. I don't think we will ever lose anything to make colons  
>> optional.
>>
>
> The emphasis for Python is improved readability (*perhaps* at the
> expense of a small extra burden when writing, i.e. when adding
> colons).  I do find code more readable with colons (and have from day
> 1 when I started learning Python).  Apparently you don't.  But, if you
> are given the choice and write code without colons and I read it, I
> know that it will be less readable for me.  So I do disagree with the
> opinion that we would would not ever lose anything by making colons
> optional.   Either they stay or they are removed - don't allow both.

I agree readability counts. That's why I love Python. And that's also  
why I don't like colons--they are line noise. Semicolons improve  
readability; they tell you exactly where lines end (esp. in case of  
line continuation), in the same way colons tell you where suites end.  
What do you feel if you see a piece of Python code full of semicolons  
at the end of every statement? That will probably be the same feeling  
I have when facing colons at the end of every suite.

And unfortunately, we allow both for semicolons.