[Python-Dev] PEP 218 (sets); moving set.py to Lib

Michael Chermside mcherm@destiny.com
Mon, 19 Aug 2002 16:31:18 -0400


[Guido van Rossum]

 > OTOH what then to do with _sort_repr -- make it a class var or an
 > instance var?

Setting a class var in a standard library class is like playing with a 
global variable with all the attendent problems. Senario... I want my 
sets sorted, but I import some library that uses sets of complex numbers 
for internal purposes. Or (slightly more plausible) I want my sets 
UNsorted, but I use some library whose author counted on the string 
output being sorted (ok... the author shouldn't have depended on it 
because of the existance of the rarely used class variable, but even 
non-experts write libraries using the standard library).

-- Michael Chermside