[Python-ideas] allow `lambda' to be spelled λ

John Wong gokoproject at gmail.com
Wed Jul 13 17:12:49 EDT 2016


On Wed, Jul 13, 2016 at 4:42 PM, Alexander Belopolsky <
alexander.belopolsky at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> On Wed, Jul 13, 2016 at 2:20 PM, Paul Moore <p.f.moore at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Um, as someone significantly older than 10 years old, I don't know how
>> to type a lambda character on my Windows UK keyboard...
>
>
> FWIW, in IPython/Jupyter notebooks one can type \lambda followed by a tab
> to get the λ character.  The difficulty of typing is a red herring.  Once
> it is a part of the language, every editor targeted at a Python programmer
> will provide the means to type λ with fewer than 6 keystrokes (6 is the
> number of keystrokes needed to type "lambda" without autocompletion.)  The
> unfamiliarity is also not an issue.  I am yet to meet a Python programer
> who knows what the keyword "lambda" is but does not know how the namesake
> Greek character looks.
>
> I am +0 on this feature.  I would be +1 if λ was not already a valid
> identifier.
>
> This is one of those features that can easily be ignored by someone who
> does not need it, but can significantly improve the experience of those who
> do.
>
>
I -1 on this feature. Sorry to be blunt. Are we going to add omega, delta,
psilon and the entire Greek alphabet? There should be one and only one way
to write code in Python as far as a valid identifier is concerned. Is there
an existing exception? I am not saying the experiences of others do not
matter, but we should take a step back and see does this actually make
sense?

Also, how do you exactly enter this character for someone who doesn't
really enter unicode character except for the ASCII alphanumeric characters
on a daily basis? How many users can we retain and even convert with this
approach? Is it really worth the go?

Thanks.

John

On Wed, Jul 13, 2016 at 4:42 PM, Alexander Belopolsky <
alexander.belopolsky at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> On Wed, Jul 13, 2016 at 2:20 PM, Paul Moore <p.f.moore at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Um, as someone significantly older than 10 years old, I don't know how
>> to type a lambda character on my Windows UK keyboard...
>
>
> FWIW, in IPython/Jupyter notebooks one can type \lambda followed by a tab
> to get the λ character.  The difficulty of typing is a red herring.  Once
> it is a part of the language, every editor targeted at a Python programmer
> will provide the means to type λ with fewer than 6 keystrokes (6 is the
> number of keystrokes needed to type "lambda" without autocompletion.)  The
> unfamiliarity is also not an issue.  I am yet to meet a Python programer
> who knows what the keyword "lambda" is but does not know how the namesake
> Greek character looks.
>
> I am +0 on this feature.  I would be +1 if λ was not already a valid
> identifier.
>
> This is one of those features that can easily be ignored by someone who
> does not need it, but can significantly improve the experience of those who
> do.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Python-ideas mailing list
> Python-ideas at python.org
> https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-ideas
> Code of Conduct: http://python.org/psf/codeofconduct/
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-ideas/attachments/20160713/d80d0ee1/attachment.html>


More information about the Python-ideas mailing list