Python 3000 idea: reversing the order of chained assignments

[Steve Holden]

Duncan Booth wrote:
> Steve Holden <steve at holdenweb.com> wrote:
> 
>> Help me out here. It looks as though the real syntax should 
>> be something like
>>
>> assignment_stmt       ::=       (target_list "=")+ expression_list |
>>                                  (target_list "=")+ assignment_stmt
> 
> That is precisely the point. If it was:
> 
> assignment_stmt       ::=       (target_list "=") expression_list |
>                                  (target_list "=") assignment_stmt
> 
> (i.e. removing the '+' which your eyes jumped over)
> then the actual assignments would have to apply right to left with each 
> assignment giving the result for the next one.
> 
> But since it is:
> 
> assignment_stmt       ::=       (target_list "=")+ expression_list
> 
> the repeated target lists may be expected, and are indeed defined, to 
> assign left to right.

Thanks, I see the plus sign now and appreciate that it indicates "one or 
more of", so the syntax is correct. But syntax doesn't imply semantics, 
so a left-recursive or right-recursive syntax formulation wouldn't 
require any change to the semantics of assignment.

In other words,

assignment_stmt       ::=       (target_list "=") expression_list |
                                  (target_list "=") assignment_stmt

and

assignment_stmt       ::=       (target_list "=") assignment_stmt |
                                  (target_list "=") expression_list

are entirely equivalent, and neither imply any order of execution. I'm 
sure you understand that syntax only specifies what's legal, not how it 
should be interpreted.

regards
  Steve
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