[Python-Dev] deprecate input()?

David Ascher DavidA@ActiveState.com
Thu, 17 Jan 2002 09:46:23 -0800


Guido van Rossum wrote:
> 
> > I just responded to a question on c.l.py a user had about feeding empty
> > strings to input().  While he didn't say why he called input(), I suspect he
> > thought the semantics were more like raw_input().
> >
> > In these days of widespread Internet nastiness, shouldn't input() be
> > deprecated?
> 
> Why?  I imagine this is only used for interactive input, and then it's
> the computer's owner who is typing.

input() can also be used effectively in interactive apps (calculators,
scripting engines for GUI apps) in contexts where the users can be
trusted.

Not _everything_ is on the web, luckily, and not everything needs to be
evildoer-proof...

That doesn't mean that I think the naming choices for input() and
raw_input() have withstood the test of hindsight, but few things do...

--david