[Python-ideas] 'where' statement in Python? (original) (raw)

Nick Coghlan ncoghlan at gmail.com
Wed Jul 21 13:24:55 CEST 2010

On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 9:16 PM, Stefan Behnel <stefan_ml at behnel.de> wrote:

Terry Reedy, 20.07.2010 21:49:

I did not comment then because I thought the idea of cluttering python with augmented local namespace blocks, with no functional gain, was rejected and dead, and hence unnecessary of comment. -10 For me, the idea would come close to destroying (what remains of) the simplicity that makes Python relatively easy to learn. It seems to be associated with the (to me, cracked) idea that names are pollution. Actually, it's about giving names to subexpressions, that's quite the opposite.

I think Terry's point was that you can already give names to subexpressions by assigning them to variables in the current scope, but some people object to that approach due to "namespace pollution". I agree with him that avoiding namespace pollution isn't a particular strong argument though (unless you have really long scripts and functions), which is why I've tried to emphasise the intended readability benefits.

Cheers, Nick.

-- Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at gmail.com   |   Brisbane, Australia

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