[Python-Dev] Python Style Sheets ? Re: User's complaints

[Boris Borcic]

Josiah Carlson wrote:
> Boris Borcic <bborcic at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Guido van Rossum wrote:
>>> You must be misunderstanding.
>> I don't think so. You appeared to say that the language changes too much because 
>> everyone wants different changes - that accumulate. I suggested a mechanism 
>> allowing people to see only the changes they want - or none at all - might be 
>> devised.
> 
> Let us imagine that such a system were devised and implemented.

A minimal requirement to such usage of the first person plural is some effort to 
make sure "we" talk about the same thing.

> Invariably user X and Y would have different sets of changes that they
> want to use.  Presumably, if the features were nontrivial, then they
> would no longer be able to exchange code because it would have been
> directed at a different 'version' of Python, whose syntax or semantics
> were different.

Of course, and that's why in my initial post I was talking of transparent 
reversible transforms and central control of "styles" through the standard.
Means not to fall into the trap you describe. Or else I would have asked for 
macros ! Are you implying that /no/ measure of language variability can be dealt 
with by such means as standards-controlled reversible transforms ? I guess not.

I am just saying :

(1) be aware that "reversible source to source transforms" means that language 
differences can *EFFECTIVELY* be made invisible - turned to purely private 
choices (in the sense of "because there exists perfect automatic two-way 
translation between equivalent languages", *NOT* "because we don't exchange code 
written in incompatible languages").

(2) of course that frame limits language differences, but nevertheless it 
relaxes that limit relative to the current situation of "no differences", and 
please don't write it off without any effort to evaluate its possibilities.

Regards, BB
--
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