Why not allow empty code blocks?

[BartC]

On 23/07/2016 12:34, Chris Angelico wrote:
> On Sat, Jul 23, 2016 at 9:13 PM, Marko Rauhamaa <marko at pacujo.net> wrote:
>>> One less thing to be programmed, one less thing for the user to
>>> remember. Just require pass any time you have an empty block, rather
>>> than try to remember where it is required and were it is optional.
>>
>> Actually, the requirement of a dummy statement is a slight annoyance for
>> the programmer. After deleting a statement, you must see if you have to
>> put in a pass statement. And after adding a statement, you may feel the
>> urge to remove the redundant pass statement.
>
> How often do you actually need empty statements, adding stuff,
> removing stuff, like that? Possibly there's a code smell here.

All the time?

For example when creating a set of empty functions to be populated 
later, or empty branches of if and so on to be filled in as so you go.

Or, for debugging or other reasons, when you need to comment out the 
contents of a block. Then pass needs to be added.

However in the absence of a strong end-of-block indicator and having to 
infer the end of the block from what may or may not follow, then pass is 
useful when the block is empty. But I don't think it needed to be mandatory.

-- 
Bartc