On 02/20/10 18:17, sjdevn...@yahoo.com wrote: > On Feb 20, 1:30 am, Lawrence D'Oliveiro <l...@geek- > central.gen.new_zealand> wrote: >> In message <op.u8at0suda8n...@gnudebst>, Rhodri James wrote: >> >>> In classic Pascal, a procedure was distinct from a function in that it had >>> no return value. The concept doesn't really apply in Python; there are no >>> procedures in that sense, since if a function terminates without supplying >>> an explicit return value it returns None. >> >> If Python doesn’t distinguish between procedures and functions, why should >> it distinguish between statements and expressions? > > Because the latter are different in Python (and in Ruby, and in most > modern languages), while the former aren't distinguished in Python or > Ruby or most modern languages? Primarily functional languages are the > main exception, but other than them it's pretty uncommon to find any > modern language that does distinguish procedures and functions, or one > that doesn't distinguished statements and expressions. > > You can certainly find exceptions, but distinguishing statements and > expressions is absolutely commonplace in modern languages, and > distinguishing functions and procedures is in the minority.
But it all boils down to "Although practicality beats purity." -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
