Are Python's reserved words reserved in places they dont need to be?

[John Roth]

metaperl wrote:
> -->  python -i
> >>> class = "algebra"
>   File "<stdin>", line 1
>     class = "algebra"
>           ^
> SyntaxError: invalid syntax
> >>>
>
>
> Why isn' t the parser smart enough to see that class followed by an
> identifier is used for class definition but class followed by equals is
> a simple assignment?
>
> Also, I had a bug where I tried to set the attributes "user" and "pass"
> in an object but "pass" would not work because it is a reserved word.
> Again pass should be reserved in certain contexts but not others.
>
> Is Python 3k going to fix this sort of thing?

I can give you a categorical NO to that one. Unless
Guido changes his mind, and it's very unlikely, the
answer is in PEP 3099: "Things that will not change
in Python 3000". It says: "The parser won't be more
complex than LL(1)." He does not want to start down
the slippery slope that leads to certain unnamed
languages such as Perl.

John Roth