Operators for matrix: current choices (Was Matlab vs Python ...)

Paul Prescod paul at prescod.net
Wed Jul 19 19:38:27 EDT 2000


Michael Hudson wrote:
> 
> dipping in and out of this thread...
> 
>...
> 
> Still don't think runtime syntax extension is a good idea, but
> unfortunately we can't claim that it's impossible.

There are all sorts of linguistic tricks that are possible if you are
willing to rewrite the parser. I said that it wasn't possible with
*Python's parser*.

> What Haskell does is to declare that any sequence of characters from
> the set [!+-*/$=%] (I think) to be an operator, much the same way as
> any sequance of characters from [a-zA-Z_0-9] (ish) is a token in
> Python today.

Consider:

+-+-+-+-5

-- 
 Paul Prescod - Not encumbered by corporate consensus
"Hardly anything more unwelcome can befall a scientific writer than 
having the foundations of his edifice shaken after the work is 
finished.  I have been placed in this position by a letter from 
Mr. Bertrand Russell..." 
 - Frege, Appendix of Basic Laws of Arithmetic (of Russell's Paradox)




More information about the Python-list mailing list