Damnation! (was: Re: Python3k extended grammar)

[Guido van Rossum]

François Pinard <pinard at IRO.UMontreal.CA> writes:

> Roy Katz <katz at Glue.umd.edu> writes:
> 
> > 1. Python 3000 may be case-insensitive. 
> 
> Horror, hell, and damnation!  April 1st should be far behind us by now!
> 
> I would hate[1] writing with inconsistent casing, with nothing on my side
> to help me writing consistently.  I much prefer what Python is, today, on
> that regard.  So, how do I register my vote?  Where do I leave my tears? :-)

Python is not a democracy.  Voting doesn't help.  Crying may... :-)

> Besides, is there any real need behind case-insensitiveness?  Or is it
> just another step forward (backward? :-) on that road that would drive us
> towards a click-on-the-pink-button-and-hear-the-soft-sound version of Python?

This is all taken way out of proportion.  I promise that Python 3000
won't suddenly be introduced without further discussion.  Every issue
will discussed here and elsewhere and we'll explain why we want to
change the design.  We'll also explain what we're going to do for
compatibility.

In the mean time, we're too busy with Python 1.6 to be able to answer
each question about Py3k.  Once 1.6 is released I promise to create a
FAQ about Py3k.

Some quick answers: for case insensitivity, we'll have tools that
enforce consistent casing (and maybe the case insensitivity will be in
the tools alone).

-- 
--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)