[Python-Dev] aargh
Eric S. Raymond
esr@thyrsus.com
Mon, 24 Jul 2000 01:55:00 -0400
Ken Manheimer <klm@digicool.com>:
> I think people are sounding off too much, posing features and opinions
> when they don't *need* to do so. People should think twice before
> posing new python features - and hold off, a lot more of the time.
OK, the recent discussion has been chaotic. But it's had two results
I think are valuable.
1. We killed off a bad syntax (for parallel iterations) and replaced it
with a clean builtin function that will genuinely add to the language
without adding undue complications (zip).
2. The PEPs will direct, and perhaps make unnecessary, a lot of future
discussion on language extensions. Even failed PEPs will be valuable
if they show that certain propositions that look initially attractive
can't be well defined or can't justify their complexity overhead.
Personally, I also think the case for range literals has been made
even if the other PEPs fail on various grounds.
--
<a href="http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr">Eric S. Raymond</a>
A ``decay in the social contract'' is detectable; there is a growing
feeling, particularly among middle-income taxpayers, that they are not
getting back, from society and government, their money's worth for
taxes paid. The tendency is for taxpayers to try to take more control
of their finances ..
-- IRS Strategic Plan, (May 1984)