[Python-Dev] Extending tuple unpacking (original) (raw)

Delaney, Timothy (Tim) tdelaney at avaya.com
Tue Oct 11 00:50:39 CEST 2005

Paul Du Bois wrote:

On 10/10/05, Nick Coghlan <ncoghlan at gmail.com> wrote:

cmd, *args = input.split() These examples also have a reasonable implementation using list.pop(), albeit one that requires more typing. On the plus side, it does not violate DRY and is explicit about the error cases. args = input.split() try: cmd = input.pop(0) except IndexError: cmd = ''

I'd say you violated it right there ... (should have been)::

args = input.split()

try:
    cmd = arg.pop()
except IndexError:
    cmd = ''

FWIW, I've been +1 on * unpacking since I first saw the proposal, and have yet to see a convincing argument against it other than people wanting to stick the * anywhere but at the end. Perhaps I'll take the stdlib challenge (unfortunately, I have to travel this weekend, but I'll see if I can make time).

Tim Delaney

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