[Python-Dev] return statements in lambda (original) (raw)

Tim Peters tim_one@email.msn.com
Mon, 6 Mar 2000 03:12:06 -0500

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maybe adding an (optional but encouraged) "return" to lambda would be an improvement?

lambda x: x + 10 vs. lambda x: return x + 10 or is this just more confusing... opinions?

It was an odd complaint to begin with, since Lisp-heads aren't used to using "return" anyway. More of a symptom of taking a shallow syntactic approach to a new (to them) language.

For non-Lisp heads, I think it's more confusing in the end, blurring the distinction between stmts and expressions ("the body of a lambda must be an expression" ... "ok, i lied, unless it's a 'return' stmt). If Guido had it to do over again, I vote he rejects the original patch . Short of that, would have been better if the lambda arglist required parens, and if the body were required to be a single return stmt (that would sure end the "lambda x: print x" FAQ -- few would expect "return print x" to work!).

hindsight-is-great-ly y'rs - tim