[Python-Dev] Distutils using apply (original) (raw)

Guido van Rossum guido@python.org
Mon, 05 May 2003 08:02:08 -0400

Could someone please explain why apply() was marked deprecated ?

Becase it's more readable, more efficient, and more flexible to write f(x, y, *t) than apply(f, (x, y) + t).

The only reference I can find is in PEP 290 and that merely reports this "fact".

I'm -1 on deprecating apply(). Not only because it introduces yet another incompatiblity between Python versions, but also because it is still useful in the context of having a function which mimics a function call, e.g. for map() and other instance where you pass around functions as operators.

Then maybe we should add something like operator.call.

OTOH, you're lucky that map isn't deprecated yet in favor of list comprehensions; I expect that Python 3.0 won't have map or filter either.

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)