Negative array indicies and slice()

[Andrew Robinson]

On 10/30/2012 10:29 PM, Michael Torrie wrote:
> As this is the case, why this long discussion? If you are arguing for 
> a change in Python to make it compatible with what this fork you are 
> going to create will do, this has already been fairly thoroughly 
> addressed earl on, and reasons why the semantics will not change 
> anytime soon have been given. 

I'm not arguing for a change in the present release of Python; and I 
have never done so.
Historically, if a fork happens to produce something surprisingly 
_useful_; the main code bank eventually accepts it on their own.  If a 
fork is a mistake, it dies on its own.

That really is the way things ought to be done.

    include this
    The Zen of Python, by _Tim Peters_
    ....
    Special cases aren't special enough to break the rules.
    Although _practicality beats purity_.
    ....

Now, I have seen several coded projects where the idea of cyclic lists 
is PRACTICAL;
and the idea of iterating slices may be practical if they could be made 
*FASTER*.

These warrant looking into -- and carefully;  and that means making an 
experimental fork; preferably before I attempt to micro-port the python.

Regarding the continuing discussion:
The more I learn, the more informed decisions I can make regarding 
implementation.
I am almost fully understanding the questions I originally asked, now.

What remains are mostly questions about compatibility wrappers, and how 
to allow them to be used -- or selectively deleted when not necessary; 
and perhaps a demonstration or two about how slices and named tuples can 
(or can't) perform nearly the same function in slice processing.

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