A critic of Guido's blog on Python's lambda

[Alex Martelli]

Stefan Nobis <snobis at gmx.de> wrote:

> aleax at mac.com (Alex Martelli) writes:
> 
> > if anonymous functions are available, they're used in even more
> > cases where naming would help
> 
> Yes, you're right. But don't stop here. What about expressions? Many
> people write very complex expression, that are hard to understand. A
> good language should forbid these abuse and don't allow expressions
> with more than 2 or maybe 3 operators!

That would _complicate_ the language (by adding a rule).  I repeat what
I've already stated repeatedly: a good criterion for deciding which good
practices a language should enforce and which ones it should just
facilitate is _language simplicity_.  If the enforcement is done by
adding rules or constructs it's probably not worth it; if the
"enforcements" is done by NOT adding extra constructs it's a double win
(keep the language simpler AND push good practices).


Alex