[ I think you meant for this to go to python-list, not python-dev. Sending this to python-list. ]
On Sun, May 11, 2014 at 3:27 PM, Ethan Furman <et...@stoneleaf.us> wrote: > Seriously though, error messages are chosen to provide a simple and clear > description that will help the user track down what went wrong, not for > enshrining in exact detail the language semantics. Would you really rather > have: > > Traceback (most recent call last): > File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module> > File "<stdin>", line 2, in func > UnboundLocalError: the name 'not_here' does not yet exist as you have not > yet assigned anything to it so there is currently no variable by that name > although at some point (in the future of this function, or perhaps in a > branch that has been passed and did not execute) you will or did assign > something to it so it will exist in the future of this function or may exist > at this point in a future run of this function. > > or: > > Traceback (most recent call last): > File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module> > File "<stdin>", line 2, in func > UnboundLocalError: local variable 'not_here' referenced before assignment The way I'd say it is: The error text should be brief, and can leave stuff out, but should not actively *conflict* with language semantics. So if it says there's a local variable that hasn't been assigned, I would expect it to mean that there is, according to language semantics, a local variable that can be in a state of not-being-assigned to. If that's not the case, the message definitely needs to be changed, because it's actively misleading. ChrisA -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
