On 2005-09-16, Terry Reedy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> One of the nasty bits in a pure-python approach is that there's >> no way to write a literal with a fixed length. For example, >> instead of writing 0xf7 to get an 8-bit value and 0x12345789 to >> get a 32-bit value, you have to instantiate a class like >> Word8(0xf7) and Word32(0x12345678). >> >> That starts to make things pretty hard to read. > > This is no worse than having to write decimal(.53489384) or > whatever to get a decimal float rather than a binary float, or > indeed, than writing cname(init_data) to get an instance of > all types/classes. There are many more possible classes than > sensible literal formats. A few basic and general types have > been blessed with literals that translate into inplicit type > constructor calls. Indeed, some literals seem necessary to > start the object construction process. However, most types > and classes, including your particular special-use classes, do > not have corresponding literals and never will in the general > release.
Oh, I realize that. I was just fantasizing about features that would make it easier to write the narrow set of applications that I tend to write. I didn't mean that I thought the need was widespread enough to seriously consider adding it to the language. -- Grant Edwards grante Yow! I'd like MY data-base at JULIENNED and stir-fried! visi.com -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list