On Sep 21, 2008, at 5:19 PM, Jake Anderson wrote:

> Peter Loron wrote:
>> On Sep 21, 2008, at 1:30 PM, Olin Lathrop wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Peter Loron wrote:
>>>
>>>> Yes, you can help the programmer along by forcing these  
>>>> restrictions
>>>> or conventions into the language/interpreter/compiler. However, I
>>>> prefer to push that out to the next layer up.
>>>>
>>> You haven't given any example, so this still sounds like the you're
>>> running
>>> into the tool catching you making a mess, and you're complaining
>>> because
>>> you'd rather be lazy and make a mess than to do it right.  Once
>>> again, can
>>> you provide a example code that you feel should be allowed but  
>>> isn't?
>>>
>>
>> Part of it is simply stylistic. I prefer to use braces to define
>> nesting. My beef with Python is that there is one way to do it,
>> Guido's way. If you are using braces to indicate nesting, you can
>> place them in many different ways. You can achieve the same end-goal
>> of helping coders write clear code (or even enforcing rigid code
>> standards) by using a pre-commit hook on your version control system
>> (you _are_ using a version control system, aren't you?) or as part of
>> your build system.
>
> What exactly is it restricting though?
> you indent your loops right?
> so really it doesn't matter where you put the bracket, the code is  
> indented.
> With no bracket to worry about you are just left with the indented  
> code.

Sigh. This has turned a molehill into a mountain. Yes, I do indent my  
loops and everywhere else that I can as an aid to understanding the  
code structure and flow. Yes, having to type brackets is an extra step  
and having to look for them can be a problem if somebody has put them  
in a strange place. As I said in the paragraph above, for me it is  
stylistic. I personally _like_ brackets, and do not like Python  
enforcing its formatting standards on me. Professionally, as a manager  
in a development organization, I think Python is a fine choice if the  
team needs a scripting language.

-Pete

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