[Types-sig] english words in Python (was: check.py)

[Greg Stein]

On Thu, 30 Dec 1999, skaller wrote:
> Paul Prescod wrote:
> > My syntax is mostly based on your web page. I switched "!" for "as"
> > based on my belief that it isn't Pythonic to use random keyboard
> > characters in ways that are not universally understood.
> 
> 	Then you had better think again. 'as' is an ENGLISH word.
> English is not 'universally' understood.

So what? The Python language uses English words. "as" is the wrong
semantic and should be rejected based on that. But not because it is
English.

Next, you'll say that we should replace "import", "class", and "assert"
with funny little characters. Soon enough, we'll end up with APL or Perl.

> 	I have implemented 'x!t' in Viper, and then, later,
> I implemented 'def f(x!t)' -- the uses require grammar modifications
> in different places and are technically distinct.

Yes. I recommend '!' for the operator and ':' for the funcdefs.

> 	As I am now implementing a C code generator, I am noticing
> the effects of the optional typing on a compiler (although I'm
> not actually using the information yet). 
> 
> 	In particular, since my implementation is entirely dynamic, 
> it fits well with cgen_module, which uses an already loaded module.
> I have not tried a static compiler which 'parses' text to generate
> code yet, but I suspect this will make my dynamic interpretation
> difficult to implement -- on the other hand, Greg Stein HAS
> tried this kind of tool -- and so I'd like to hear from him
> what the impact of the 'at run time' meaning would be,
> if he has looked at this.

I don't follow your question here. I don't understand your distinctions
between dynamic and runtime and static...

Cheers,
-g

-- 
Greg Stein, http://www.lyra.org/