On Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:02:24 +0000, Martin P. Hellwig wrote: > Warren DeLano wrote: >> A bottom line / pragmatic question... hopefully not a FAQ. >> >> Why was it necessary to make "as" a reserved keyword? > <cut> > Because it can be used at the import statement to let the imported thing > be known under another name? > Something like: > > >>> import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
Martin, that doesn't answer the OP's question *at all*. Python 2.5 uses "as" in that way, and it is not a keyword. >>> import math as MATHS >>> MATHS <module 'math' from '/usr/lib/python2.5/lib-dynload/mathmodule.so'> >>> as = 45 <stdin>:1: Warning: 'as' will become a reserved keyword in Python 2.6 >>> as <stdin>:1: Warning: 'as' will become a reserved keyword in Python 2.6 45 I'd guess that the change was to simplify the CPython parser. I have no idea if it was a tiny change or a significant change, if it made a huge difference to Python-dev or a little difference. Perhaps someone on the dev team could comment. While I feel sympathy for the OP, I do have to ask: he's been using Python 2.5 for, what, a couple of years now? How many times did he see the depreciation warning, and almost certainly the pending depreciation warning before that? Python-dev has been talking about making "as" a keyword since at least Python 2.3. Why wait until after version 2.6 is released before saying anything? -- Steven -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list