PEP 308: Pep Update

[Gareth McCaughan]

Robin Becker wrote:

> >> If we base everything on a 12 year old's understanding/ability we'll get
> >> a dumbed down language which is unsuitable for serious programming.
> >
> >I fail to see how adding something to Python can turn it into
> >a dumbed-down language unsuitable for serious programming,
> >no matter how oversimplified or verbose or primitive or
> >otherwise horrible the addition is. All those serious programs
> >already written in Python will go on working just fine if
> >any of the proposed conditional expression forms is introduced.
> >
>  I'm not claiming that adding any particular scheme/addition is doing
>  that. I claim that those who base their arguments on teachability to
>  non-programmers may be doing that. Many don't like lambda, map etc
>  because they are hard to teach/understand, the argument is then made
>  that such constructs should be deprecated and finally removed despite
>  the fact that they are useful in some circumstances.

Could you give an example of a Python feature that has been
deprecated and removed despite being useful, and which has
thereby contributed to the dumbing down of Python? I can't
think of any, but maybe I'm too dumbed down already.

In other words: I think your concern is unjustified; what you
fear simply isn't going to happen.

-- 
Gareth McCaughan  Gareth.McCaughan at pobox.com
.sig under construc