[Python-Dev] Syntax suggestion for imports (original) (raw)

Aahz aahz at pythoncraft.com
Thu Jan 3 03:08:25 CET 2008

On Wed, Jan 02, 2008, Raymond Hettinger wrote:

The standard library, my personal code, third-party packages, and my employer's code base are filled with examples of the following pattern: try: import threading except ImportError: import dummythreading as threading How about a new, simpler syntax: * import threading or dummythreading as threading

My gut reaction is -0. For starters, many of these should go away with Python 3.0 (e.g. cStringIO). Also, annoying as the try/except is, I think the fact that it signals the special import is helpful; your suggestion is too light-weight IMO. If you could devise something just a bit heavier, that would be much better.

Aahz (aahz at pythoncraft.com) <*> http://www.pythoncraft.com/

Weinberg's Second Law: If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.

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