[Python-Dev] Re: PEP 279 (original) (raw)

Guido van Rossum guido@python.org
Mon, 01 Apr 2002 23:05:52 -0500

After some more thinking about the name, I have two contenders left: enumerate() and indexer().

Let me explain why I reject the others:

iterindexed()-- five syllables is a mouthfull

Indeed.

index() -- nice verb but could be confused the .index() method

Indeed.

indexed() -- widely liked however adjectives should be avoided

Indeed.

count() -- direct and explicit but often used in other contexts

In particular, there's a list method by this name. While that's in a different namespace, I think the core language should be careful not to pile too many meanings on the same name.

itercount() -- direct, explicit and hated by more than one person

Did they explain why they hated it? "Hate it" alone doesn't get much credit in my book.

iteritems() -- already used by dictionaries for key:value pairs

Which is a downside to me. The symmetry between (key:value) for mappings and (index:value) for sequences seems appealing but quickly becomes a problem, e.g. "for i in " iterates over the values but "for i in " iterates over the keys.

So now I'd like to choose between enumerate() and indexer(). Any closing arguments?

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