Brian Sabbey wrote:I prefer re-using the 'for' loop for this purpose because it allows the problem to be solved in a general way by re-using a structure with which most users are already familiar, and uses generators, which are easier to use in this case than defining a class with __exit__, __enter__, etc.
But this is an abuse of both the for-loop and the generator. It's using a for-loop for something that does not loop and is never intended to loop, and it's using yield to do something other than producing a value for consumption.
I'd rather see a new mechanism altogether for this very different use case.
The problem with creating a new mechanism is that sometimes you will want to loop. For example, reading a bunch of items from a shared resource, modifying them, and sending them back. A new, non-looping mechanism will not be adequate for this because it cannot loop, and a 'for' loop will not be adequate for the same reason it is not adequate now: it can't automatically unlock the resource at the end of the loop.
I was looking for a single mechanism to handle all of these cases, but I can see why you and most people would not be so keen on the idea of abusing (I prefer "expanding the uses of") 'for' loops this way.
-Brian _______________________________________________ Python-Dev mailing list Python-Dev@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com
