[Python-ideas] Syntactic sugar to declare partial functions

[Alex Walters]

> [Steven D'Aprano]
> 
> 
> 	You've said that the choice of keyword, "lambda", has caused harm.
> Given
> 	the chance to clarify what you meant, you stood by your comment
> that the
> 	choice of keyword "lambda" has done real, significant, non-trivial
> harm
> 	to Python (the language, or the community).
> 
> 
> What are you talking about? I explained exactly what I meant:
> 
> 
> 
> 	I think there are better ways that anonymous functions could have
> been implemented.  I've already said in past discussions, I think the
> expression should come before the signature because the signature is often
> obvious from context so placing it before the logic is kinda noisy. I don't know
> what the best syntax would have been, but I refuse to believe that an
> esoteric word from an esoteric branch of calculus with an arbitrary etymology
> was the absolute best choice available. I think the harm that choice caused is
> relatively minor, but I don't think it was a great choice.
> 
> 
> Notice: I never said "real, significant, non-trivial harm" anywhere in this
> entire discussion. I never said anything close to that. Stop jamming bullshit in
> my mouth to suit your narrative that I'm "extremely overreacting". It's not
> cute.
> 

He is questioning the concept that the lambda keyword has caused any harm.  You assert that it caused minor harm.  Minor harm can still be real, significant, and non-trivial.  Has the keyword choice done any harm aside from mailing list jamming, and forum posts.  I believe he is asserting that it hasn't.  The burden of proof would be on you that it has caused any level of harm to the language of community, the criteria being that the harm be real, significant (if minor) and non-trivial.

You will find no evidence to support your argument.  You might find evidence that functional programming techniques are less useful with anonymous functions in python due to the restriction to only use expressions, but that isn't what is being argued.