PEP 312 - Making lambdas implicit worries me, surely it's just the name 'lambda' that is bad...

Steve Holden sholden at holdenweb.com
Thu Mar 13 18:07:15 EST 2003


"Alex Martelli" <aleax at aleax.it> wrote in message
news:jk_ba.71962$zo2.1877444 at news2.tin.it...
> Stephen Horne wrote:
[...]
> >
> > Correct what?
>
> The strange assertion that built-in function names "never start a
> line".
>
>
> > For me, the strange assertion is that "'lambda' is ... one of the few
> > keywords that never starts a line". It's pretty much accurate, but I
>
> If you change "never" into "rarely", it becomes accurate, and you
> can then also strengthen the "one of the few keywords" into "the
> only keyword" -- four keywords are operators ('in' is also used as
> part of 'for' syntax) and NEVER start (logical) lines, 24 begin
> statements or clauses thereof and always (for compound statements
> and clauses) or often (for simple statements) start a line, lambda
> is the only one that CAN do so but is RARELY seen in that role as
> such an expression-statement essentially serves no useful purpose.
>
> > don't see the relevance - especially given that other words than
>
> I don't see the relevance of this whole discussion to anything, either.
>
So stop encouraging it then!

> In particular, if somebody's trying to assert something about keywords,
> whether that assertion be well-founded or not, your counter-assertions
> about tokens that are NOT keywords has no possible relevance that I
> can see.  So, I've given up on trying to understand why all of these
> non-sequiturs are accumulating on this thread and just making sure that
> what _DOES_ get said, whether relevant or not, is at least correct.
>
> > You're assertion that some built-in function names often start a line
> > seems to have no relevance to either Jacks or my statements. We are
> > not debating the kinds of words that *can* start a line. It has
> > nothing to do with the question at hand.
>
> It's not a question of debating, but one of asserting, specifically
> of asserting things that are false.  It is NOT true that built-in
> functions never start a line: they are all ALLOWED to do so (as is
> lambda) [and some of them are seen in such positions frequently,
> while others are seen in such positions rarely].
>
> Feel free to continue this weird discussion, but don't be surprised
> if I correct assertions that are false, quite apart from the issue
> of the relevance of anything to anything else.
>
The moon is made of green cheese :-)

regards
--
Steve Holden                                  http://www.holdenweb.com/
Python Web Programming                 http://pydish.holdenweb.com/pwp/
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