[Python-Dev] PEP 318 needs a rewrite (original) (raw)

Guido van Rossum guido at python.org
Mon Mar 8 13:53:32 EST 2004

Instead of arguing in circles, can someone (or a small group) rewrite the PEP to contain a summary of the arguments for and against various forms?

I've been asked by a few folks to pronounce on the PEP, but as it stands, the PEP doesn't adequately summarize the discussion, so I can't pronounce.

I haven't been able to follow the discussion here in much detail, but I've sampled bits and pieces, and I happen to like the Quixote form

def [] ():

As a human reader, I like seeing the attributes before the arguments because some attributes (like classmethod and staticmethod) affect the interpretation of the argument list. Also, I suspect that long argument lists are much more common than long lists of attributes; I don't like finding attributes hiding after the argument list.

I don't like having the attributes before the name, because that makes it harder to find the name. So from this perspective the Quixote form is optimal IMO.

(Feel free to rewrite the PEP to amtch this opinion. :-)

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

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