[Python-ideas] Suggestions: dict.flow_update and dict.__add__

[Greg Ewing]

Christopher Barker wrote:
> That violates an important convention in Python: mutating methods do not 
> return self. We really want to preserve that convention.

Smalltalk has an abbreviated way of writing a series of method
calls to the same object:

    x doThis; doThatWith: y; doTheOther.

is equivalent to

    x doThis.
    x doThatWith: y.
    x doTheOther.

Something like this could no doubt be added to Python, but I'm
not sure it would be worth the bother. Giving a short name to the
recipient and then writing the calls out explicitly isn't much
harder and is clearer to read, IMO.

-- 
Greg