[Python-3000] Support for PEP 3131 (original) (raw)

Baptiste Carvello baptiste13 at altern.org
Sat May 26 00:00:43 CEST 2007

Guido van Rossum a écrit :

If there's a security argument to be made for restricting the alphabet used by code contributions (even by co-workers at the same company), I don't see why ASCII-only projects should have it easier than projects in other cultures.

there is only one valid reason: because that's the reasonable choice for open source code, and you make the political choice to favor open-source. An ASCII-only default helps open source projects keep their codebase readable, and also makes it easier to open proprietary codebases after the fact. On the other hand, a non-ASCII default does help novice users. So you will make someone unhappy...

My personal data point: in scientific research, where I work, specialized programs are sometimes not organised by projects, but by codes, which are developped in-house and open-sourced as is after the fact. For this use case, a non-ASCII default is clearly a nuisance, because non-ASCII identifiers would be used without much thought when the program is a small in-house project, and then make it difficult to debug 5 years down the road when it has become important for the community. In this peculiar case, non-ASCII identifiers also have less justification, because all researchers understand english well anyway. So, for my personal interests, an ASCII-only default would be better.

just my 2 cents, BC

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