gah! I hate the new string syntax

[Alex Martelli]

"Amit Patel" <amitp at Xenon.Stanford.EDU> wrote in message
news:98elrk$li8$1 at nntp.Stanford.EDU...
    [snip]
> What I mean to say is that I cannot write new methods on strings.  So

Perfectly true, just as you cannot on dictionaries, lists, tuples,
file objects, and so on.  Only classes and extension-classes
are extensible (by inheritance and overriding), not types.

> has control over the string class.  Since I don't control the string
> class, I have to use a different syntax than someone who does have
> control over the string class gets to use.  That seems okay if the
> function is some essential part of that class.  But it seems "wrong"
> if the function is there merely for convenience.

string is not a class -- it's a type.  To many, the split seems wrong
_all_ of the time.  I may be one of the few that sees some pluses
in the distinction (!), but it does complicate things, and is a strong
candidate for "aspect of Python fewest Pythonistas _like_":-).


Alex