'complex' function with string argument.

[Christian Gollwitzer]

Am 15.03.14 17:26, schrieb Jayanth Koushik:
> This is regarding the inbuilt 'complex' function. The python docs
> say: "Note: When converting from a string, the string must not
> contain whitespace around the central + or - operator. For example,
> complex('1+2j') is fine, but complex('1 + 2j') raises ValueError."

It's funny that you ask this question exactly now; because I'm currently 
implementing a compiler for a small language that understands complex 
numbers. As others have explained, the basic issue is the question how 
to parse an expression like

	1+2i*3

is it "complex(1+2i) times 3" or is it sum of 1 and product of complex 
2i and 3? The answer that python does it by parsing imaginary literals 
and then combining them back using peephole optimization was helpful, 
thanks for that!

	Christian