[Python-Dev] Python Style Sheets ? Re: User's complaints (original) (raw)

Josiah Carlson jcarlson at uci.edu
Mon Jul 17 22:10:48 CEST 2006

Boris Borcic <bborcic at gmail.com> wrote:

Josiah Carlson wrote: > Invariably user X and Y would have different sets of changes that they > want to use. Presumably, if the features were nontrivial, then they > would no longer be able to exchange code because it would have been > directed at a different 'version' of Python, whose syntax or semantics > were different.

Of course, and that's why in my initial post I was talking of transparent reversible transforms and central control of "styles" through the standard. Means not to fall into the trap you describe. Or else I would have asked for macros ! Are you implying that /no/ measure of language variability can be dealt with by such means as standards-controlled reversible transforms ? I guess not.

Regardless of the existance of reversable transforms, a user's ability to understand and/or maintain code is dependant on the syntax and semantics of the language. In allowing different language variants, one is changing the user-understood meaning of a block of code, which necessarily increses the burden of programming and maintenance.

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