Python Sanity Proposal: Type Hinting Solution

[Roy Smith]

In article <54c3a0c1$0$13013$c3e8da3$5496439d at news.astraweb.com>,
 Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python at pearwood.info> wrote:

> Tim Chase wrote:
> 
> > On 2015-01-24 17:21, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> >> # Cobra
> >> def sqroot(i as int) as float
> >> 
> >> # Python
> >> def sqroot(i:int)->float:
> >> 
> >> 
> >> Cobra's use of "as" clashes with Python. In Python, "as" is used for
> >> name-binding:
> >> 
> >> import module as name
> >> with open('file') as f
> >> except Exception as e
> >> 
> >> but apart from that minor difference, they're virtually identical.
> > 
> > Though given that
> > 
> >  def sqrt(i as int) as float:
> > 
> > is invalid Python syntax (both in the parameter list and as the
> > return value of the function), the meaning of "as" could be overloaded
> > in both senses to allow for the Cobra-like syntax.
> 
> OF course it could. But it shouldn't, because "as" already has an
> established and consistent meaning: it is used for name binding.
> 
> Things which look similar should be similar. "i as int" and "module as name"
> look similar, but they are the same syntax for different concepts. "foo as
> bar" will sometimes mean that bar is the name bound to foo, and sometimes
> it will mean that foo is declared to be type bar. That's messy and
> inconsistent and best avoided.

On the other hand, flip it around and say:

def sqrt(int as i):

and now the name-binding semantics works.  "The first argument is an 
int, which is bound to the name i".  Not sure how you would apply that 
to the return type, though.