[Python-Dev] Symbol page for Language Reference Manual Index (original) (raw)

Terry Reedy tjreedy at udel.edu
Thu Jun 8 06🔞23 CEST 2006

Many math books have an index or glossary of symbols connecting the symbols used in the text with their meaning in that text. I have often found these useful.

I believe that people learning and using Python would similarly benefit from an index to the non-alphabetic symbols (and multi-symbol syntactic units) used in Python code.

I am willing to do perhaps half the work needed to produce such in time for the 2.5 release. In particular, I am willing to write a plain text file listing symbols (in ascii sort order) and section numbers, in an agreed-on format, if the idea is approved and someone else agrees to convert section numbers to page links and do the necessary latex/html formatting (with a Python script?).

The main formatting decision is between the two formats already used for identifiers versus topics. For example, for the multiple meanings of '()' (which is one syntactic unit):

() (calls) 5.3.4 () (expressions) 5.2.3 () (tuple literals) 5.2.3

with each line a link -- see 'dict' for an example -- or

() calls 5.3.4 expressions 5.2.3 tuple 5.2.3

with each subline a link -- see arithmetic for an example.

[I just realized that some links need to be within-page rather than to the top of the page and that I can cut and paste additional info if I find the appropriate regular index entry, such as http://docs.python.org/ref/parenthesized.html#l2h-342 for 5.2.3. But I will work this sort of thing out with whoever formats.]

Terry Jan Reedy

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