> PEP 316 introduces new syntax for a limited use feature. That's pretty > much a no-starter, in my opinion, and past experience tends to bear > that out. Furthermore, it predates decorators and context managers, > which give all the syntax support you need and let you move the actual > DBC features into a library. I can't remember if I mentioned this > before but I believe that Philip Ebys PEAK toolkit has some stuff you > could use for DBC.
I don't see how you can avoid adding some new syntax, given that Python does not currently have syntax for specifying invariants and pre- and post- conditions. And if I am not mistaken, the new syntax would appear only in doc strings, not in the regular Python code itself. We're not really talking here about changing the core Python syntax itself, so I don't see it as a "non-starter." Anyone who chooses not to use would be completely unaffected. As far as I can tell, Terence Way has done a nice job of implementing design by contract for Python, but perhaps a better approach is possible. The advantage of making part of the core Python distribution is that it would get vetted more thoroughly. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
