Why Python does *SLICING* the way it does??

[Reinhold Birkenfeld]

Antoon Pardon wrote:
> Op 2005-04-21, Reinhold Birkenfeld schreef <reinhold-birkenfeld-nospam at wolke7.net>:
>> Antoon Pardon wrote:
>>
>>> I sometimes think python should have been more explicite here,
>>> using a marker for the start-index and end-index, may '^' and
>>> '$'. So if you wanted the last element you had to write:
>>> 
>>>   lst[$]
>>> 
>>> And for the next to last element:
>>> 
>>>   lst[$ - 1]
>>> 
>>> 
>>> This would make accessing list elements counted from the rear
>>> almost just as easy as it is now but wouldn't interfere with
>>> the ask forgiveness programming style.
>>
>> How would you pass this argument to __getitem__?
> 
> Well assuming lst.last, was the last index of lst, __getitem__
> would get lst.last and lst.last - 1 passed.

Then it would be an alias for len(lst)-1 ?

>> What would be allowed, only '$-x' or also '$+x' or what else?
> 
> Any expression where an int is allowed.

Okay.

>> What type would '$' be?
> 
> It would be an int.

Where would it be allowed? Only in subscriptions?

Reinhold