On 9/29/2012 2:38 PM, Guido van Rossum wrote:
Does this mean we want to re-open the discussion about decimal constants?
Last time this came up I think we decided that we wanted to wait for
cdecimal (which is obviously here) and work out how to handle contexts, the
syntax, etc.
I think that ought to be a Python 4 feature if we ever want it to be a
feature. And I'm not saying this to kill the discussion; I just think
it will be a huge change that we have to consider very carefully.
While the existing float definitely has problems for beginners, it is
incredibly useful for advanced users. Consider e.g. the implications
for numpy / scipy, one of the fastest-growing specialized Python user
communities.
It is also one of, if not *the* oldest application communities.
Now if you want to introduce a new notation for decimals, e.g. 3.14d
and 1e42d, that would be a fine thing. (Should we also have complex
decimals? 1jd anyone?)
I think not. The money community does not use complexes that I know of,
and complex decimals would not be very useful without a complex decimal
module (and 3rd party modules). Even the complex float operations and
cmath library could use work to touch up and test corner cases.
I can imagine giving IDLE a calulator mode. If Python itself had a
startup switch, Idle could just restart the remote process. If a new
suffix is used, Idle could add the suffix as literal numbers are entered.
--
Terry Jan Reedy
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