how to abort on syntax errors

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    Josh> I have a lot of except Exception, e statements in my code, which
    Josh> poses some problems. One of the biggest is whenever I refactor
    Josh> even the triviallest thing in my code.

    Josh> I would like python to abort, almost as if it were a compile-time
    Josh> error, whenever it cannot find a function, or if I introduced a
    Josh> syntax error. But, instead, it merrily proceeds on its way.

    Josh> Is there some idiom that you use in situations like these?

In general, I think you should be more specific in the exceptions you
catch.  For example, if you want to look up a key in a dictionary and most
of the time it's there, but every now and again you need to add it, I'd use
something like this:

    try:
        val = somedict[key]
    except KeyError:
        # need to initialize slot
        somedict[key] = INITIAL_VALUE

That is, be as precise as you can in the exceptions you catch.  Also, try to
keep the body of the try block as small as you can.

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