[Python-Dev] any support for a methodcaller HOF? (original) (raw)

Robert Brewer fumanchu at amor.org
Fri Feb 3 19:52:01 CET 2006

Giovanni Bajo wrote:

Alex Martelli <aleaxit at gmail.com> wrote: > I understand your worry re the syntax issue. So what about Michael > Hudson's "placeholder class" idea, where X[1] returns the callable > that will do x[1] when called, etc? Looks elegant to me...

Depends on how the final API looks like. "deffered(x)[1]" isn't that bad, but "def x: x[1]" still looks clearer as the 'def' keyword immediatly makes clear you're DEFining a DEFerred function :) Of course we can paint our bikeshed of whatever color we like, but I'm happy enough if we agree with the general idea of keeping the same syntax in both deferred and immediate execution.

I don't agree with that "general idea" at all. Sorry. ;) I think the semantic emphasis should not be on "execution", but rather on "expression". The word "execution" to me implies "statements", and although some functions somewhere are called behind the scenes to evaluate any expression, the lambda (and its potential successors) differ from "def" by not allowing statements. They may be used to "defer execution" but to me, their value lies in being static expressions--object instances which are portable and introspectable.

This is where LINQ [1] is taking off: expressions are declared with "var" (in C#). I used Expression() in Dejavu [2] for the same reasons (before LINQ came along ;), and am using it to build SQL from Python lambdas. I had to use lambda because that's Python's only builtin support for expressions-as-objects at the moment, but I'd like to see Python grow a syntax like:

e = expr(x: x + 1)

...where expr() does early binding like dejavu.logic does. [Looking back over my logic module, I'm noticing it requires boolean return values, but it would not be difficult to extend to return abitrary values--even easier if it were rewritten as builtin functionality. Guess I need to write myself another ticket. ;)]

Robert Brewer System Architect Amor Ministries fumanchu at amor.org

[1] http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/future/linq/ [2] http://projects.amor.org/dejavu/browser/trunk/logic.py

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