Py3K idea: why not drop the colon?

[Carl Banks]

Steve Holden wrote:
> In fact most Python doesn't use such constructs, though I'll admit the
> occasional __init__ is more or less inevitable once you start using the
> object-oriented features more than casually.

Occasional?  I don't know about you, but I use __init__ in 99% of the
classes I define.  :)  I don't think __special_symbols__ are manifestly
unsuitable for newbies--they're just special.

I was curious how much I used these symbols.  For my current largish
project:

    306 __init__
     68 __future__
     44 __dict__
      3 __name__
      3 __main__
      3 __import__
      3 __builtin__
      2 __str__
      2 __file__
      1 __setitem__
      1 __setattr__
      1 __repr__
      1 __or__
      1 __ne__
      1 __int__
      1 __getitem__
      1 __getattribute__
      1 __eq__
      1 __call__
      1 __add__

Excepting my use of __dict__, not a whole lot advanced usage there, and
I am NOT the kind of person who's afraid to do advanced things when
it's useful.  Much of the advanced stuff, including __dict__, is for
debugging.  (I have a lot of classes that acquire resources that I must
explicity release, so I clear the __dict__ to catch any post-release
accesses, which could cause subtle failures otherwise.)


Carl Banks