Case-sensitivity: why -- or why not? (was Re: Damnation!)

[Robert Citek]

At 06:05 AM 5/21/00 +0200, Juergen A. Erhard wrote:
>
>    Guido> Yet, here are some of the reasons why I am considering making
Python
>    Guido> case-insensitive:

Interesting thread.  But I do have one question: what exactly do you have
in mind when you write "case-insensitive"?  Examples would be helpful.  (If
it is in a previous post, I missed it)


>    Guido> (1) Randy Pausch, a professor at CMU, found, when teaching
>    Guido> Python to non-CS students in the context of Alice
>    Guido> (www.alice.org), that the number one problem his students
>    Guido> were having was to remember that case matters in Python.
>    Guido> (The number two problem was 1/2 == 0; there was no
>    Guido> significalt number three problem.)
>
>Did he try a Python that was case-insensitive?

Excellent point.  Guido, you are assuming that when you make Python
case-insensitive the students will have an easier time learning Python.  Is
this assumption true?  The answer may depend on how "case-insensitive" is
implemented.  Has anyone tested this assumption (perhaps with another
language)?

I tend to agree with those who have suggested making the programming
environment (IDLE or others) handle any case-consistency issues.  The IDE
with Visual Basic is one model that handles case-consistency relatively
painlessly.

Just my $0.02

- Robert