Why is there no post-pre increment operator in python

[Roy Smith]

riteshtijoriwala at gmail.com wrote:
> Anyone has any idea on why is there no post/pre increment operators in
> python ?  

Short answer: Because Guido didn't like them.

Longer answer: Because they encourage people to write cryptic one-liners.  
There really isn't anything you can't write with them that you couldn't 
write just as well without them.  It just takes another line or two of 
code.  The end result may be a little longer, but it's almost always easier 
to understand.

> Although the statement:
> ++j
> works but does nothing

Well, it works in the sense that it's not a syntax error, but it doesn't 
quite do nothing.  It applies the unary + operator to the value of j, then 
does it again, then throws away the result.  Granted, that's probably not 
what you expected, and probably not very useful, but it's not quite 
"nothing".