Nested scopes: why is it weird?

[Paul Prescod]

Alex Martelli wrote:
> 
>...
> 
> Java just doesn't let a local variable 'shadow' one with the
> same name from a lexically-outer scope, and that might have
> been a nice choice too -- just forbid b to have a local variable
> named x if a lexically-outer scope of b had a similarly named
> local variable.  Unfortunately, this restriction, which I have
> always liked, and proposed when nested scope were PEP'd, was
> not accepted (though it did get a mention in the PEP), so we'll
> live forevermore with misunderstandings on this point.

Why forevermore? PEP a change to the behaviour and then we can put in a
warning. Python's current behaviour is both confusing and dangerous and
I would love to see someone champion a change. This just shouldn't
silently do the wrong thing:

a = 5

def foo():
   a = 6

It would be better to require one of the names to be changed.
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