[Python-ideas] Input characters in strings by decimals (Was: Proposal for default character representation)

[Mikhail V]

On 8 December 2016 at 01:57, Nick Timkovich <prometheus235 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> hex notation not so readable and anyway decimal is kind of standard way to
>> represent numbers
>
>
> Can you cite some examples of Unicode reference tables I can look up a
> decimal number in? They seem rare; perhaps in a list as a secondary column,
> but they're not organized/grouped decimally. Readability counts, and
> introducing a competing syntax will make it harder for others to read.

There were links to such table in previos discussion. Googling
"unicode table decimal" and
first link will it be.
I think most online tables include decimals as well, usually as tuples
of 8-bit decimals.
Also earlier the decimal code was the first column in most tables, but
it somehow settled in
peoples' minds that hex reference should be preferred, for no solid reason IMO.
One reason I think due to HTML standards which started to use it in html files
long ago and had much influence later, but one should understand,
that is just for brevity in most cases. Other reason is, file viewers
show hex by
default, but that is just misfortune, nothin besides brevity and 4-bit
word alignment
gives the hex notation unfortunatly, at least in its current typeface.
This was discussed actually in that thread.
Many people also think they are cool hackers if they make everything in hex :)
In some cases it is worth it, but not this case IMO. Mainly for
bitwise stuff, but
then one should look into binary/trinary/quaternary representation
depending on nature
of operations and hardware.

Yes there is unicode table pagination correspondence in hex reference,
but that hardly plays
any positive role for real applications, most of the time I need to
look in my code
and also perform number operations on *specific* ranges and codes, but not
on whole pages of the table. This could only play role if I do
low-level filtering of large files
and want to filter out data after character's page, but that is the
only positive thing
I can think of, and I don't think it is directly for Python.

Imagine some cryptography exercise - you take 27 units, you just give
them numbers (0..26)
and you do calculations, yes you can view results as hex numbers, but
I don't do it and most people
don't and should not, since why? It is ugly and not readable.