[Python-Dev] Re: A proposal has surfaced on comp.lang.python toredefine"is"

[Terry Reedy]

"Andrew Koenig" <ark-mlist at att.net> wrote in message
news:001f01c40dd9$92dabe90$6402a8c0 at arkdesktop...
> > I would say that Python is served well by the two equality predicates
> > it has, that it is impossible to please everyone, and that users
> > should get used to writing the predicate they want if it is not one of
> > the builtins.

+1

> Without disagreeing with your statement, I can also say this:
>
> The fact that "is" is so easy to use encourages some programmers to use
it
> when they would be better off with a different predicate that is much
less
> readily available.  If "is" represented this other predicate instead,
most
> programs that use it would be better off.

Until someone writes, tests, and publishes an equiv function, and others
verify its usefulness, that strikes me as a speculative hypothesis.
Concrete code would also be clearer to me than the natural language
definitions I have seen.

Terry J. Reedy