[Python-ideas] PEP 572: Statement-Local Name Bindings, take three!

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Sun, Mar 25, 2018 at 05:00:37PM +1000, Nick Coghlan wrote:

> Given the existing namespace stack of 
> builtin<-global<-nonlocal<-local, one potential short name would be 
> "sublocal", to indicate that these references are even more local than 
> locals (they're *so* local, they don't even appear in locals()!).

If we go down this track, +1 on the name "sublocal".


[...]
> And if we do end up going with the approach of defining a separate
> sublocal namespace, the fact that "n := ..." binds a sublocal, while
> "n = ..." and "... as n" both bind regular locals would be clearer
> than having the target scope of "as" be context dependent.

The scope issue is a good argument for avoiding "as" if we have sublocal 
binding.

One thing I like about the (expression as name) syntax is that the 
expression comes first. The Pascal-style := binding syntax reverses 
that. While we're bike-shedding, here are some alternatives to compare:


    target = default if (expression as name) is None else name
    target = default if (name := expression) is None else name
    target = default if (expression -> name) is None else name
    target = default if (name <- expression) is None else name


The arrow assignment operators <- and -> are both used by R. A dedicated 
non-ASCII forward arrow is also used by some programmable calculators, 
including HP and TI. But let's not start using non-ASCII symbols yet.

If we don't like a symbolic operator, we could channel BASIC from the 
1970s and write something like this:

    target = default if (let expression = name) is None else name

Pros:

- requiring the keyword "let" prevents the "equals versus 
  assignment" class of errors;

- easier to search for a keyword than a symbolic operator;

Cons:

- more verbose;

- looks like BASIC;

- requires a new keyword.



-- 
Steve