On Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:12:45 -0700 (PDT), Rob Beezer <goo...@beezer.cotse.net>
wrote:
> "Python doesn't have an "end" statement!", I hear you say.
>
> Try in the notebook, as a colleague new to Sage basically did with a
> more serious purpose,
>
> a = 3
> if a == 1:
> a = a+1
> else:
> a = 6
> end
> a += 1
>
> "end" is a Sage function that constructs an endomorphism. So the
> "statement" above is harmless. Is this enough reason to give this
> function a new, less-confusion-causing name?
For some reason this post made me smile :)
Here are a couple of thoughts:
* the whole body of end(X, f) is: return End(X)(f)
I would not be upset if end were done away with completely; I think
End(X)(f) is more explicit and the thing I would try for if I had to
build that endomorphism.
* it's amazing that this is the first time I hear about this; has anyone
seen this before? this suggests at least two scenarios:
** this "mistake" really is very rare, in which case it's not clear
whether we should act on it
** this "mistake" is a bit more widespread, but since you don't get an
error you won't notice it; in this case, if we remove "end" we need
to deprecate it first, otherwise a bunch of people's code won't
work any more :)
Best,
Alex
--
Alex Ghitza -- http://aghitza.org/
Lecturer in Mathematics -- The University of Melbourne -- Australia
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