Case-sensitivity: why -- or why not? (was Re: Damnation!)

[Dieter Maurer]

Guido van Rossum <guido at python.org> writes on Sun, 21 May 2000 02:01:37 GMT:
> (1) Randy Pausch, a professor at CMU, found, when teaching Python to
> non-CS students in the context of Alice (www.alice.org), that the
> number one problem his students were having was to remember that case
> matters in Python.  (The number two problem was 1/2 == 0; there was no
> significalt number three problem.)
Hm, wasn't that easy: all case matters in Python.

Naming conventions are, however, (I think) not well documented
and, at least for module names, inexistant or not adhered to.

In my view, the way out should not be to give up case sensitivity
but to document and adhere to simple naming conventions.

> (2) I've met many people who are experienced and accomplished Python
> programmers but who still, when referring to Python modules or
> functions in an informal context (e.g. email), make up their own case
> conventions.  E.g. people will write me about the String module or
> about FTPLib.
It this really a reason to have the same variability in
formal as in informal contexts?

> I also know some of the things I plan to do to make the transition
> painless and to make the usual problems with case insensitivity more
> palatable.  E.g. I may add a case insensitivity feature to IDLE which
> makes sure that all identifiers are written in a consistent case, I
Oh no!
Either I have case insensitivity and can use it (inconsistent writing
for the same object, such that I do not need to always consult
a dictionary)
or I have case sensitivity and can use that (giving similar
but different objects names different only in case).
But having case insensitivity but being forced to use the
names as if the language were case sensitive seems really ill
for me.



Dieter