[Python-ideas] Simpler syntax for basic iterations

[Terry Reedy]

On 10/13/2015 8:01 PM, Erik wrote:
> On 13/10/15 23:19, Mark Lawrence wrote:

>> Stop pointlessly discussing something that simply is not going to happen.
>
> Huh?
>
> for each in range(3):
>    foo()
>
> ... is already valid Python. In what way is that "not going to happen"?

What is not going to happen is that Python will not be changed to 
actually make a particular identifier a dummy, by not, for instance, 
letting it be used within the loop.  I know you were not proposing that.

> This spelling was just suggested as an alternative to the original
> poster who did not like having to explain the cryptic "___" spelling to
> students.

What I think will not and should not happen is that Guido and/or core 
devs 'bless' in PEP 8 any particular work for teaching beginners.  Mark 
gets a bit over-anxious sometimes, but insofar as he meant 'its futile 
for us to try to decide on one spelling here', I think he is correct.

> Same construct, different spelling.

Right, and I think 'each' if better than '_' or '__' for beginners.  I 
recommend 'count' for range() and 'item' for a generic iterable.  I also 
recommend that teachers of beginners experiment with various choices, 
and share their experiences with each other. Who knows, maybe kids would 
prefer 'for kangaroo in range(3):', or other personal choices.

-- 
Terry Jan Reedy