[PYTHON MATRIX-SIG] Forget adding new operators to Python

[Guido van Rossum]

[The second in a series of short essays on subjects raised in the
Matrix discussion.]

Let me be brief on this one: adding new operators (like ".*", "./" or
"\") to the language is no-no.  I'm very fond of the fact that nearly
all graphical elements of the Python language correspond pretty
closely to their use in "everyday life" (with the C language
considered to be part of everyday life :-).

I should point out that even though the semantics of operators are
(almost) entirely defined by their operands, their syntax (including
priorities) is not -- the parser doesn't know the operand types.

Another, more practical reason is that adding a new operator requires
changes to many components of the language implementation -- e.g. if
".*" were to be added as a new numeric operator, I'd have to make
changes to every module that implements numbers, if only to add a NULL
pointer.

The only thing I regret is not having added "**" as an exponentiation
operator -- this may happen someday (contributions accepted!).

Oh, and there's also agreement that operators like "+=", "*=" should
eventually be added; though not "++" and "--".

--Guido van Rossum <guido@CNRI.Reston.VA.US>
URL: <http://www.python.org/~guido/>


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