Re: Py3K idea: why not drop the colon?

[Michael Hobbs]

Paul Boddie wrote:
> Michael Hobbs wrote:
>   
>> I think the colon could be omitted from every type of compound
>> statement: 'if', 'for', 'def', 'class', whatever. Am I missing anything?
>>     
>
> The FAQ answer. ;-)
>
> http://www.python.org/doc/faq/general/#why-are-colons-required-for-the-if-while-def-class-statements
>
> Paul
>   
I knew there was a document somewhere that I missed. ;-) I even scanned 
all the Py3K PEPs before posting. Anyway, the FAQ answer seems to be a 
weak argument to me. But if the BDFL insists that it remains, why not 
take the converse approach? That is, assume that the expression ends at 
the colon, not at the newline. That would make this type of statement 
possible:
    if color == red or
      color == blue or
      color == green:
        return 'primary'
Right now, such a statement would have to be spelled thus:
    if color == red or \
      color == blue or \
      color == green:
        return 'primary'
or
    if (color == red or
      color == blue or
      color == green):
        return 'primary'
-- 
http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list