Replacement for keyword 'global' good idea? (e.g. 'modulescope' or 'module' better?)

D H no at spam
Sat Aug 6 15:01:36 EDT 2005


seberino at spawar.navy.mil wrote:
> I'm not saying 'modulescope' and 'module' are the only alternatives or
> even
> the best anyone can come up with.
> 
> 'global' has the connotation of being visible *EVERYWHERE*
> where in Python it is just visible in one module's space.
> 
> Can you think of a better alternative or do you believe
> 'global' is the best possible?
> 

When designing a language meant to be easy to use as well as powerful 
feature-wise, you have to weighh between things like technical accuracy 
of a term (which you are focusing on), how much typing it takes, how 
easy it is to remember and spell correctly, and how the term is commonly 
understood and used.
Sometimes python takes one of those considerations to the extreme (like 
"def") or has a uncommon view of "common understanding" (like "lambda").
But global is the best term I can think of for the way it is used, and 
it is by far the most common term used for these kind of variables in 
numerous other languages including vb, php, ruby, etc.



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