[Python-ideas] Hexadecimal floating literals

[Victor Stinner]

2017-09-21 3:53 GMT+02:00 Steven D'Aprano <steve at pearwood.info>:
> float.fromhex(s) if s.startswith('0x') else float(s)

My vote is now -1 on extending the Python syntax to add hexadecimal
floating literals.

While I was first in favor of extending the Python syntax, I changed
my mind. Float constants written in hexadecimal is a (very?) rare use
case, and there is already float.fromhex() available.

A new syntax is something more to learn when you learn Python. Is it
worth it? I don't think so. Very few people need to write hexadecimal
constants in their code.

For hardcore developers loving bytes, struct.unpack() is also
available for your pleasure.

Moreover, there is also slowly a trend to compute floating point
numbers in decimal since it's easier to understand and debug (by
humans ;-)). We already have a fast "decimal" module in Python 3.

Victor