[Python-Dev] defaultdict proposal round three (original) (raw)

Guido van Rossum guido at python.org
Tue Feb 21 17:31:49 CET 2006

On 2/21/06, Alex Martelli <aleaxit at gmail.com> wrote:

On Feb 21, 2006, at 1:51 AM, Greg Ewing wrote: ... > Just one more thing -- have you made a final decision > about the name yet? I'd still prefer something like > 'autodict', because to me 'defaultdict' suggests autodict is shorter and sharper and I prefer it, too: +1

Apart from it somehow hashing to the same place as "autodidact" in my brain :), I don't like it as much.; someone who doesn't already know what it is doesn't have a clue what an "automatic dictionary" would offer compared to a regular one. IMO "default" conveys just enough of a hint that something is being defaulted. A name long enough to convey all the details of why, when, and it defaults wouldn't be practical. (Look up the history of botanical names under Linnaeus for a simile.)

I'll let it brew in SF for a while but I expect to be checking this in at PyCon.

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

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