For review: PEP 343: Anonymous Block Redux and GeneratorEnhancements

[Delaney, Timothy C (Timothy)]

Nicolas Fleury wrote:

> def getFirstLine(filename):
>      with opening(filename) as file
>      return file.readline()

Your tastes definitely disagree with the majority of Python programmers
then, including Guido. Scoping is defined in Python by indentation.

If you want the above sort of thing, you're going to have to write a new
PEP, and I'd be very surprised to see it accepted. But there's nothing
stopping you from doing so.

> def getFirstLine(filename):
>      with opening(filename) as file:
>          return file.readline()

This is beautiful and explicit. What else could you want?

The syntax:

    with EXPR1 as VAR1, EXPR2 as VAR2:
        ...

was discussed on python-dev. It wasn't explicitly rejected, but the
feeling seemed to be that it was an unnecessary complication as far as
PEP 343 is concerned. There's nothing stopping another PEP proposing
this as an extension to PEP 343, and there's nothing stopping that being
in Python 2.5 if it's accepted.

PEP 343 was originally PEP 340 (and several other things) and was quite
complicated at one point (it originally contained PEP 342 as well). The
PEP in its current state represents 2 months of discussion, complication
and (finally) simplification. Its semantics are clear and unambiguous.
And (as Guido states) it will obsolete 4(?) other PEPs.

Be sure to read the referenced PEPs (and the ones referenced from them)
- they contain a lot of history. Also read PEP 346 for a competing PEP
to PEPs 340 and 343 that gradually converged to PEP 343 - most
importantly, it contains the rejected options (that seem to have been
lost from PEPs 340 and 343).

Tim Delaney