Proposal for adding symbols within Python

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Sat, 12 Nov 2005 18:59:39 +0100, Pierre Barbier de Reuille wrote:

> First, I think it would be best to have a syntax to represent symbols.
> Adding some special char before the name is probably a good way to
> achieve that : $open, $close, ... are $ymbols.

I think your chances of convincing Guido to introduce new syntax is slim
to none. (Not quite zero -- he did accept @ for decorators.)

I think symbols should simply be an immutable object, one with state and
limited or no behaviour, rather than a brand new syntactical element.
Being an object, you can reference them in whatever namespace you define
them in.

Personally, I think rather than adding a new language feature (...slim to
none...) there is more hope of getting something like this added to the
standard library:

http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Cookbook/Python/Recipe/413486



-- 
Steven.