Design-by-Committee

[Alex Martelli]

"Steve Cooper" <stevencooper at isomedia.com> wrote in message
news:mailman.988836427.27686.python-list at python.org...
> I personally don't want Python to be (become) a swiss army knife with all
> these new language widgets.  I'd rather have an efficient screwdriver that
> works well with, but doesn't replace, the rest of my toolkit.  I think
that
> was the original intent.  I hope it stays that way.

I would subscribe every single one of these assertions, but
I differ on the implied fear that "all these new language
widgets" _ARE_ making Python "a swiss army knife".

It seems to me that Guido is still mostly doing an excellent
job of filtering out MOST changes requested, proposed, desired
or mused about by those people who do NOT share your taste (and
mine) for Python as "an efficient screwdriver" (well, maybe a
bit MORE than that - right now, Python is my choice for about
80% to 90% of my programming, except where otherwise constrained
by being involved with maintenance of other pre-existing code,
and I can't see a screwdriver playing THAT major a role in a
typical kit of tools!-), but rather prefer to dream of "One
Language to Bind Them All".

Most changes since 1.5.2 seem to me to be quite good ones,
making Python even better for its job[s], at modest (if any)
cost in simplicity -- I can think of only one blatant
counter-example, and a few cases where I am not going to
be able to decide whether I like or dislike the change
until and unless I get more practical experience using
it, teaching it, etc.  The net effect seems OK to me...


Alex