[Python-3000] Line continuation using ellipsis (original) (raw)

Andrew Koenig ark-mlist at att.net
Fri Apr 13 21:07:41 CEST 2007

I'm not proposing to remove the feature, however I'd like to see an alternative method for declaring statements that cross a line boundary. I seem to recall at one point someone suggesting the use of ellipsis, which makes a lot of sense to me:

sortedresult = partitionlower( inputlist, pivot ) ... + pivot ... + partitionupper( inputlist, pivot )

I once used a programming language named EFL that had what I think is a nice convention: If the last token on a line is an operator (i.e. something that cannot syntactically be the last token of a statement), the next line is deemed a continuation. So your example would be able to be written this way:

sorted_result = partition_lower( input_list, pivot) +
   pivot +
   partition_upper( input_list, pivot )

Interestingly, if I remember correctly, EFL did not assume a continuation for unmatched parentheses -- it looked only at the last token on the line.

For Python, I guess I'd like it if either unmatched parentheses or ending with an operator were to signal continuation.

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