Python questions from C/Perl/Java programmer

[William Park]

On Mon, Jul 24, 2000 at 12:31:05PM -0400, ye, wei wrote:
> 1. Why not use {}?!
> def f:
>     ...
> why not use {} like this:
> def f {
>     ...
> }

Usual answer is '{}' uses up extra line.  But, Guido decided on this
long time ago and is unlikely to change his mind.


> The other problem is if you want to added a new condition in a complex
> already existed condition statement,
> e.g. In the following example, If you want to added a new 'if' between
> line 1 and 2, you have to add TAB from Line 2 to 199,
> it's difficult to make sure you don't make mistake. (The case may be
> more complex as the example which I give).
> 
> 1     if() :
> 2        if():
> 3           ....
>              ....
>              ....
> 100   else:
>              ...
> 200else :
>          ...

If you have to manually type 200 if-then-else, then perhaps you
re-examine your logic.  However, indentation should be taken care of by
your editor.  I use 'vim' with
    au BufRead *.py set smartindent
    au BufRead *.py set cinwords=if,elif,else,for,while,try,except,finally,def,class
to get automatic indenting for the first line.  More recent 'vim' may
have other features that I'm not aware of.


> 2. Why variable doesn't have to be declared before use?

The usual answer is "because it's Python".