Why aren't colons optional?

[Grant Edwards]

In article <3C4AAA46.BC5D570E at tds.net>, Edward K. Ream wrote:
>> Why are colons required after def, elif, else, except, finally, for, if,
>> try and while?  One would think the colon would be optional when the
>> colon is followed by a newline.
> 
> Thanks to all who replied.  To summarize the responses:  This is not a
> parser issue; apparently Guido believes colons increase readability.

IIRC, there were actual studies conducted with one of the
precursor languages (ABC?) which determined that the colon
increased readability -- at least for new programmers.

> Also, making trailing colons optional would impact many tools.
> 
> I am unconvinced, and I'm not going to press the issue.

Perhaps if you ask, somebody can provide a cite?

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