Are multiple return values really harmful? (Re: determining the number of output arguments)
Dave Brueck
dave at pythonapocrypha.com
Wed Nov 17 16:54:00 EST 2004
Donn Cave wrote:
> In article <mailman.6491.1100708505.5135.python-list at python.org>,
> Dave Brueck <dave at pythonapocrypha.com> wrote:
>
>>Greg Ewing wrote:
>>
>>>Jeremy Bowers wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Generally, returning a tuple is either a sign that your return value
>>>>should be wrapped up in a class, or the function is doing too much.
>>>
>>>
>>>While I suspect you may be largely right, I
>>>find myself wondering why this should be so.
>>
>>*Is* it largely right? I don't think so. As you said, there doesn't seem to be
>>anything "wrong" with passing multiple pieces of data _into_ a function, so why
>>should we assume that complex data passing should be so one way?
>
>
> What's up with keyword arguments, then? I don't think you can argue
> that on one hand keyword arguments are a valuable feature, but plain
> by-order tuples are a totally satisfactory interface on the other hand.
I don't think anybody is putting forth the opinion that by-order tuples are
totally satisfactory. I just disagree that returning a tuple is generally a sign
of something wrong with your function.
-Dave
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