[Python-Dev] String literal concatenation & docstrings

[Nick Coghlan]

Michael Hudson wrote:
> Nick Coghlan <ncoghlan at iinet.net.au> writes:
> I haven't actually checked or anything rash like that, but I'd imagine
> the answer is something like:
> 
>    The two strings are separate statements as far as the parser is
>    concerned, and the "concatenating adjacent strings" thing only
>    happens within an expression.

That would certainly be a sensible explanation. The only time I've ever actually 
made use of the feature is when assigning a long string, and even then only 
rarely (I'm more likely to use triple quotes and left align the whole thing)

> You can do this:
>>>>"con"\
> 
> ... "cat"
> 'concat'

Which actually does work for combining multiple strings into a single docstring.

>>So, can anyone satisfy my idle curiousity as to whether this was a
>>deliberate design choice, or an accident of the implementation?
> 
> Well, it surprises me not at all.

I think the key distinction I'd missed was that in the doc string case, the two 
strings were actually separate statements. Once that distinction is noted, the 
behaviour is, as you say, unsurprising. It also makes it obvious why escaping 
the newline has the effect it does.

Cheers,
Nick.

-- 
Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at email.com   |   Brisbane, Australia
---------------------------------------------------------------
             http://boredomandlaziness.skystorm.net