[Python-ideas] PEP 505 vs matrix multiplication

[Antoine Pitrou]

On Wed, 29 Nov 2017 18:14:36 +1000
Nick Coghlan <ncoghlan at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> As far as utility goes, I put it in a similar category to matrix
> multiplication: if you don't need it, you don't need it, but when you
> do need it, you need it a *lot*.

As someone who appreciates both the matrix multiplication operator and
"async/await", I really don't think PEP 505-style operators (regardless
of their spellings) fall into the same conceptual bucket.

There's no risk of matrix multiplication operators bleeding into
non-domain specific code, and the readers of domain specific code
already know about the matrix multiplication operator and what it
does (or they should anyway, since it's so damn useful).  It's like
"async/await": you won't find them in regular non-async code, so the
mental burden only falls on specialists who write and read event-driven
networking code (mostly, even though Guido would like to see parsers
based on the idiom too :-)). Conversely, PEP 505-style operators may
appear in everyday code regardless of their application domain or
target.  This in turn increases the mental burden for *everyone*.

Regards

Antoine.