Re: [RFC] Draft Proposal for New Python Syntax

Bennett Todd (bet@std.sbi.com)
26 May 1994 17:49:15 GMT

This seems to be a terribly frequent recurring complaint from people just
learning Python. I haven't been involved with Python all that long, and I've
still seen it go around a couple of times on the python-list.

Personally, I much prefer Python the way it is. I like its lack of clutter;
using indentation to indicate block structure cuts down on the noise
delimiters. Plus, I dislike the ``feature'' of other languages, that block
structure is indicated in two disconnected ways: using indentation for the
benefit of human readers, and using block delimiters for the benefit of the
compiler. This adds redundant visual clutter to the code, and it introduces
the possibility of _ugly_ mismatches between the block delimiters that the
compiler reads, and the indentation that humans read.

If you feel it's important to use block delimiters, go ahead and type them
in, then use a sed(1) to rip 'em out before you feed the results to Python.
If you want them to actually override indentation, so you can have
mis-indented code, then write a preprocessor. While indent(1) is quite
C-specific, it might still be a good starting point.

-Bennett
bet@sbi.com