Proposal for new minor syntax

[BartC]

On 28/03/2015 09:53, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> On Sat, 28 Mar 2015 10:08 am, BartC wrote:
>
>> An alternate syntax might be:
>>
>>    hello = .string()

That should have been .strip()


>>    loop_node =. next
>
> Why propose that?
>
> Every other augmented assignment has the operator on the left hand side of
> the equals. Greater-than, less-than, and not-equal all have the symbol on
> the left hand side of the equals:
>
> += -= *= **= /= //= %= |= ^= &= <= >= != =.

 > ... and I'm dubious about pretending that . is an operator

I see where you're coming from now. You're thinking that it is "." that 
is the operator, but I'm looking at "strip()" as the operator that is 
being applied.

I see the "." as just a bit of necessary syntax that introduces this 
style of operator as a /unary/ operation, not a binary operation like 
all those examples.

Maybe that's just the way Python does it. However, take this example 
using negation:

  a = -a

which is clearly applying a unary operator, and imagine there existed a 
method (if that's the word) called "neg", that also returned the 
negative value of its operand:

  a = a.neg()

This does exactly the same thing. But suddenly you're now applying a 
binary operator "." instead of a unary one!

(I'm not sure how this all applies to the loop_node.next example, but 
even here I don't count the "." as an operator, but syntax. In the 
languages I'm used to, the right-hand-side cannot be a conventional 
operand.)

-- 
Bartc