Py3K idea: why not drop the colon?

[Steve Holden]

John Salerno wrote:
> Fredrik Lundh wrote:
>> John Salerno wrote:
>>
>>>> Anyway, the FAQ answer seems to be a weak argument to me.
>>> I agree. I was expecting something more technical to justify the 
>>> colon, not just that it looks better.
>> yeah, the whole idea of treating programming languages as an interface 
>> between people and computers is really lame.  no wonder nobody's using 
>> Python for anything.
>>
>> </F>
>>
> 
> personally, i don't mind the colon and see no need to lose it, but if we 
> are talking in the realm of aesthetics, it actually seems like it would 
> be cleaner if it weren't there...sure, at first everyone who is used to 
> it might feel like something is missing, or the line is "hanging" open, 
> but overall the less characters, the better, right? isn't that why the 
> braces are gone?

No. The braces are gone because they don't assist a reader's 
determination of block structure like indentation does. Otherwise why 
would people write indenting pretty printers for C and the like?

regards
  Steve
-- 
Steve Holden       +44 150 684 7255  +1 800 494 3119
Holden Web LLC/Ltd          http://www.holdenweb.com
Skype: holdenweb       http://holdenweb.blogspot.com
Recent Ramblings     http://del.icio.us/steve.holden