It's all been said. There is a PEP being written, so we should all make
sure our arguments are well represented there, and let the decision be made.
But in all the discussion about usability and discoverability, etc, please
keep in mind that zip() is a builtin, and zip_longest() and any other
function written will be in the itertools module.
All the tab completion, etc in the world does not help when the functions
are in different namespaces.
Also please keep in mind that the members of this list, and the python-dev
list, are not representative of most Python users. Certainly not beginners
but also many (most?) fairly active, but more "casual" users.
Folks on this list are very invested in the itertools module and iteration
in general. But many folks write a LOT of code without every touching
iterttools. Honestly, a lot of it is pretty esoteric (zip_longests is not)
-- I need to read the docs and think carefully before I know what they even
do.
Example: Here's the docstring for itertools.chain:
chain(*iterables) --> chain object
Return a chain object whose .__next__() method returns elements from the
first iterable until it is exhausted, then elements from the next
iterable, until all of the iterables are exhausted.
I can tell you that I have no idea what that means -- maybe folks wth CS
training do, but that is NOT most people that use Python.
And here's the full docs:
Make an iterator that returns elements from the first iterable until it is
exhausted, then proceeds to the next iterable, until all of the iterables
are exhausted. Used for treating consecutive sequences as a single
sequence. Roughly equivalent to:
def chain(*iterables):
# chain('ABC', 'DEF') --> A B C D E F
for it in iterables:
for element in it:
yield element
OK, that's better, though only because there's a nice simple example there,
and ytou have to go looking for them.
Anyway, inscrutable docstrings are another issue, and one I keep hoping
I'll find the time to try to address one day, but the point is :
"Folks will go look in itertools when zip() doesn't do what they want "
just does not apply to most people.
Finally, yes, a pointer to itertools in the docstring would help a lot, but
yes, it's still a heavier lift than adding a flag, 'cause you have to then
go and import a new module, etc.
-CHB
--
Christopher Barker, PhD
Python Language Consulting
- Teaching
- Scientific Software Development
- Desktop GUI and Web Development
- wxPython, numpy, scipy, Cython
_______________________________________________
Python-ideas mailing list -- python-ideas@python.org
To unsubscribe send an email to python-ideas-le...@python.org
https://mail.python.org/mailman3/lists/python-ideas.python.org/
Message archived at
https://mail.python.org/archives/list/python-ideas@python.org/message/LISCLZXA5RE5WHMWVBPF2CDXN73WYREG/
Code of Conduct: http://python.org/psf/codeofconduct/
