Pythonification of the asterisk-based collection packing/unpacking syntax

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Sun, 18 Dec 2011 13:47:46 -0600, Evan Driscoll wrote:

[...]
> so unless you're opposed to using an editor more
> advanced than Notepad, you'll type in "varargs", it'll turn purple or
> whatever, and you'll go "oh that's a keyword."

Not everybody uses editors more advanced than Notepad. Even those who do 
may not have an editor that understands Python keywords, or has an 
obsolete list of keywords (my editor of choice doesn't know about 
NotImplementedError). Or they're ssh'ed into a customer's server half-way 
across the world and using `ed` because that's the only thing available.

The point is not that there can never been more keywords in Python, but 
that the burden of proof is on those asking for new keywords. By default, 
the status quo wins:

http://www.boredomandlaziness.org/2011/02/status-quo-wins-stalemate.html


-- 
Steven