[Python-Dev] Re: PEP 318: Decorators last before colon

[Phillip J. Eby]

At 01:23 PM 4/5/04 +1200, Greg Ewing wrote:
>Ka-Ping Yee <python-dev at zesty.ca>:
>
> > Putting the [decorator] on a separate line before the function
> > changes the stakes entirely.  It sets aside real functional issues
> > in favour of aesthetics.
>
>Not only that, but I think the aesthetics of this version are *worse*
>than anything that's been considered before.  It strikes me as deeply
>wrong and un-Pythonic -- so much so that I can't understand why Guido
>is even considering it.

There are different kinds of aesthetics.  Guido's proposal has grown on me 
from a *visual* aesthetics point of view.  After I worked with it a little 
bit, I realized it really is much prettier than decorators-before-colon.

However, from more intellectual aesthetics (consistency, predictability, 
etc.) I still dislike it, and don't really see how to sanely reconcile it 
with the Python syntax of today.  I wish that I did, because it really does 
*look* better for simple decorators.

On the other hand, *no* syntax proposed so far has been really that nice to 
look at when used for multiple decorators.