Python dot-equals (syntax proposal)

[D'Arcy J.M. Cain]

On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:05:49 -0500
John Bokma <john at castleamber.com> wrote:
> "D'Arcy J.M. Cain" <darcy at druid.net> writes:
> > so much clearer?  Do you really want to see Python turn into Perl?
> 
> Oh, boy, there we go again. Can you and your buddies please refrain from
> using Perl as a kind of uber-argument? Just write why you think it's
> wrong. Bonus points if you can use Python in your arguments.

I think I was clear that the problem was obfuscation which Perl is very
good at.  Haven't you ever had a Perl programmer show you a snippet of
code and say "I bet you can't guess what this does"?

> On top of that, it's not possible in Perl (heh, no surprise there). The
> only thing that comes close is:
> 
> for ( $a_very_long_variable_name ) {
>  
>     s/foo/bar/g;
>     s/baz/woot/g;
>     s/o+/i/g;
> }
> 
> Which makes $_ an alias for $a_very.... and since s/// defaults to $_

I hope that this example wasn't supposed to be a proof of Perl's
readability.

Anyway, you are right.  I just happen to be dealing with some Perl and,
even worse, PHP issues on a new server and I am feeling a little
battered.  I'll be better in a day or two.

By the way, to get back to the original topic, I don't really mind if
this makes it into the language because I won't be forced to use it.

-- 
D'Arcy J.M. Cain <darcy at druid.net>         |  Democracy is three wolves
http://www.druid.net/darcy/                |  and a sheep voting on
+1 416 425 1212     (DoD#0082)    (eNTP)   |  what's for dinner.