[Python-Dev] Relative import (original) (raw)

Barry Warsaw barry at python.org
Mon Dec 22 10:44:46 EST 2003

On Mon, 2003-12-22 at 10:36, Guido van Rossum wrote:

> I don't either, although my biggest problem with it is that it isn't > clear just by looking what the punctuation actually means. I just > fear this will be a permanent head scratcher.

This argument by itself has very little value. The question isn't whether it's self-describing (very few features beyond decimal integers are); the question is whether it's easy to remember. There are two subclasses of that: easy to remember what it means when you next see it, and easy to remember how to spell it when you next need it. IMO the dot syntax does fine here.

Sorry, it was a pre-coffee argument. To me, the dot-syntax doesn't really tell me whether it forces a relative search or an absolute search. The dot tells me that something different is happening, so maybe when absolute is the default, it tells me there's a switch to relative searching going on. I'm not sure though, so I do think it may potentially fail the "easy to remember what it means when you next see it" test. OTOH, it would be nice to see a Greg Wilson-style newbie poll.

> Here's my entry in the sure-to-be-shot-down-by-the-BDFL-alternative > -syntax game:

There have been so many alternatives proposed this morning that I have to spend some time comparing them all...

Hopefully, this stuff will make it into the PEP so you don't have to troll through suggestions buried in endless email threads.

-Barry

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