I generally like the idea of calling the result of `async def` an "async
function", and replacing most uses of "coroutine" in the docs with "async
function". The potential confusion with "asynchronous function" (which in
my taxonomy is a broader category including both coroutines and functions
that take callbacks) is unfortunate, but as long as the syntax is `async
def` the term "async function" is almost inevitable and we might as well
embrace it.
In Tornado, though, I'm going to keep using the term "coroutine" because
our `yield`-based decorated coroutines are important for as long as Python
2 is around.
-Ben
On Sun, Oct 9, 2016 at 12:00 PM Guido van Rossum <gu...@python.org> wrote:
> I'd like input from others, but maybe it's worth expanding the scope
>
> to python-ideas? Not too many people read async-sig. (Or should that
>
> be coroutine-sig? :-)
>
>
>
> On Sat, Oct 8, 2016 at 8:50 PM, Nathaniel Smith <n...@pobox.com> wrote:
>
> > On Sat, Oct 8, 2016 at 7:48 PM, Guido van Rossum <gu...@python.org>
> wrote:
>
> >> I've heard people call it an "async def" too.
>
> >>
>
> >> I don't think it's quite as dramatic as you worry about. People also
>
> >> talk about generators (not generator functions) and even though
>
> >> there's a further ambiguity between the function and the type of
>
> >> object it returns, we still get along.
>
> >
>
> > Hmm, I don't mean to be dramatic. Obviously the world will not end if
>
> > we keep using "coroutine" as the standard term :-). I just think that
>
> > calling them "async functions" (and "async function objects" when the
>
> > distinction is important) would be a nice unambiguous win for pedagogy
>
> > and clarity, and that it's worth grabbing those when you get the
>
> > chance. "coroutine" says more about the history of how we got here
>
> > than about what these things actually mean to a regular end-user;
>
> > "async function" is so transparent that you can skip the vocab
>
> > discussion and go straight to talking about how to use them.
>
> >
>
> >> There's also the @coroutine decorator.
>
> >
>
> > There's two of them, even: @types.coroutine and @asyncio.coroutine.
>
> > I'm not really sure what the difference is -- I think at this point we
>
> > could delete some code by making the latter an alias for the former?
>
> > But for now they're still independent and I might be missing
>
> > something.
>
> >
>
> > And unless I am missing something, these are only useful in rather
>
> > unusual situations: either because you're trying to maintain
>
> > compatibility with 3.4 (which I think will rapidly become irrelevant
>
> > for most asyncio users, if it isn't already) or you're implementing
>
> > your own trampoline (e.g. [1][2]). So even if we leave the decorators
>
> > alone, it doesn't really stop us from switching to clearer terminology
>
> > for day-to-day usage -- most people will never encounter @coroutine
>
> > anyway.
>
> >
>
> > (For completeness: the other stdlib identifiers I see that mention
>
> > "coroutine" are: sys.{get,set}_coroutine_wrapper, several functions in
>
> > inspect, and asyncio.run_coroutine_threadsafe.)
>
> >
>
> >> If you have a specific piece of documentation in mind, let's talk --
>
> >> maybe it's fine to change.
>
> >
>
> > Well, it's a basic concept that gets mentioned constantly throughout
>
> > all discussions... For example, I count 29 instances in [3] and 53
>
> > instances in [4]. Clearly it's useful to have a standard term for
>
> > these things.
>
> >
>
> > -n
>
> >
>
> > [1]
> https://github.com/dabeaz/curio/blob/6166a54a731df59c15fe27791d1c6b048f09f941/curio/traps.py#L46
>
> > [2]
> https://github.com/njsmith/async_generator/blob/fab4af987cb86c6db549131b66d3ab4c4e327a29/async_generator/impl.py#L13
>
> > [3] https://docs.python.org/3/library/asyncio-stream.html
>
> > [4] https://curio.readthedocs.io/en/latest/reference.html
>
> >
>
> > --
>
> > Nathaniel J. Smith -- https://vorpus.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> --Guido van Rossum (python.org/~guido)
>
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>
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