[Python-Dev] PEP 203 Augmented Assignment

[Guido van Rossum]

> Actually, it wasn't the feebleness as much as the two different things you
> seem to be wanting, Guido ;) Previously (in another thread, and perhaps in
> the start of this thread as well) you argued that an index should always
> call __getitem__, with a slice object if it's a slice of some kind, *even a
> basic one*. So that we lose __getslice__ and rather teach people to use
> __getslice__. 

That would be nice, but it would be b/w incompatible, so now we're
trying (again) to figure out how to still support __getslice__.  My
proposal is to try and be b/w compatible if __getslice__ exists.  See
my previous mail.

> So now you want to *extend* the 'special case' to extended, 3-argument
> slices, but *not* Ellipses and tupled-slices (which aren't really tuples,
> because you can do (1, 2:5, ...)) -- or am I reading this wrong ? :)

Not sure what you mean by that.  (1, 2:5, ...) by itself is illegal
syntax; the special slice syntax can only occur directly in an
indexing context, e.g. a[1, 2:5, ...].

> Don't worry, Guido, it isn't just you, I failed to grasp what those managers
> were trying to tell me today, too... I may just be too dense, today.

I hope they weren't telling you to stop working on Python!  You seem
made for this work...

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.pythonlabs.com/~guido/)