Parentheses (as after "print")

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Wed, 27 Sep 2017 02:48:41 +0000, Stefan Ram wrote:

> Steve D'Aprano <steve+python at pearwood.info> writes:
>>"Do What I Mean" (DWIM) programming is a terrible idea.
> 
>   It's an anti-pattern, when one expects the implementation to follow
>   different and contradicting rules and then somehow guess what was in
>   the mind of the programmer.
> 
>   But it's a pattern when it means to strip the language of useless
>   boilerplate and still following consistent and simple rules. That was
>   what made Python great.


Python has never followed the DWIM anti-pattern as a philosophy.

DWIM goes against the Zen of Python:


"In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess."


You want Python to guess that something which doesn't start with "def" 
and doesn't end with a colon is a function definition, rather than a 
class definition, or a messed up `if func(a, b)` statement, or a messed 
up `while func(a, b)` statement, or a messed up `with func(a, b)` 
statement.

No thanks.


-- 
Steven D'Aprano
“You are deluded if you think software engineers who can't write 
operating systems or applications without security holes, can write 
virtualization layers without security holes.” —Theo de Raadt