[EMAIL PROTECTED] a écrit : > Fortran (1957) had line comments. C (1972) replaced these with non- > nested block comments. C++ (1983) added here-to-EOL comments. Python > (1991) keeps here-to-EOL comments but replaces block comments with > multi-line quotes. Block comments and multi-line quotes both serve the > same purpose as doc comments. Block comments, especially if they nest, > are helpful for commenting out code. Multi-line quotes serve to add > text. > > Is Python, in this particular, an advance over C++? > > I wrote a lot of Java (here-to-EOL and block comments) without ever > feeling the need for multi-line quotes.
I wrote a lot of Java without ever feeling the need for things functions as objects, lexical closures, lazy evaluation, anonymous functions etc. Then I learned to use these features and couldn't stand coding in Java no more. > I've written a little Perl and > found multi-line quotes useful for responding to -help switches. On > the other hand -help switches are very old-fashioned, a direction I'll > not be pointing my tiny beginner's language. "old-fashioned" ? Do you have something better to suggest ? Please keep in mind that most servers don't have GUIs (for obvious reasons). But multiline strings are not only useful for "old-fashioned -help switches" - they are useful anywhere you need a quick and simple text templating system - be it html, javascript, SQL, whatever - and using a full blown templating system would be overkill. IOW, like a lot of other features, it's not that you cannot do without, but it really helps when it's available *and* braindead easy to setup and use. My 2 cents... -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list