+M to reject. On 6/16/05, Raymond Hettinger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > While the majority of Python users deem this to be a nice-to-have > feature, the community has been unable to reach a consensus on the > proper syntax after more than two years of intensive debate (the PEP was > introduced in early April 2003). > > Most agree that there should be only-one-way-to-do-it; however, the > proponents are evenly split into two camps, with the modernists > preferring IX for nine and the classicists preferring VIIII which was > the most likely spelling in ancient Rome. > > The classicists not only rely on set-in-stone tradition, they point to > pragmatic issues such as avoidance of subtraction, ease of coding, > easier mental parsing (much less error prone), and ease of teaching to > beginners. They assert that the modernists have introduced unnecessary > algorithmic complexity just to save two keystrokes. > > The modernists point to compatible Java implementations and current > grade school textbooks. They believe that users from other languages > will expect the IX form. Note however, not all the modernists agree on > whether MXM would be a well-formed spelling of 1990; most, but not all > prefer MCMXC despite its likelihood of being mis-parsed on a first > reading. > > There is also a small but vocal user group demanding that lowercase > forms be allowed. Their use cases fall into four categories: (i) > academia, (ii) the legal profession, (iii) research paper writing, and > (iv) powerpoint slideshows. Reportedly, this is also a common > convention among Perl programmers. > > Links: > > http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/waymac/History%20A/A%20Term%201/1.%20Rome/R > oman_Numerals.htm > http://www.sizes.com/numbers/roman_numerals.htm > > > Raymond > > _______________________________________________ > Python-Dev mailing list > Python-Dev@python.org > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev > Unsubscribe: > http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-dev/guido%40python.org >
-- --Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/) _______________________________________________ Python-Dev mailing list Python-Dev@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com