To bring it back to a concrete idea, here's how I see things: 1. The idea of f-string-like assignment targets has little support. Only Chris, and maybe the OP who seems to have gone away. 2. The idea of a "scanning language" seems to garner a fair amount of enthusiasm from everyone who has commented. 3. Having the scanning language be "inspired by" f-strings seems to fit nicely with Python 4. Lots of folks like C scanf() as another inspiration for the need. I was not being sarcastic in saying that I thought COBOL PICTURE clauses are another similar useful case. I think Perl 6 "rules" were trying to do something along those lines... but, well, Perl. 5. In my opinion, this is naturally a function, or several related functions, not new syntax (I think Steven agrees)
So the question is, what should the scanning language look like? Another question is: "Does this already exist?" I'm looking around PyPI, and I see this that looks vaguely along the same lines. But most likely I am missing things: https://pypi.org/project/rebulk/ In terms of API, assuming functions, I think there are two basic models. We could have two (or more) functions that were related though: # E.g. pat_with_names = "{foo:f}/{bar:4s}/{baz:3d}" matches = scan_to_obj(pat_with_names, haystack) # something like (different match objects are possible choices, dict, dataclass, etc) print(matches.foo) print(maches['bar']) Alternately: # pat_only = "{:f}/{:4s}/{:3d}" foo, bar, baz = scan_to_tuple(pat_only, haystack) # names, if bound, have the types indicated by scanning language There are questions open about partial matching, defaults, exceptions to raise, etc. But the general utility of something along those lines seems roughly consensus. -- The dead increasingly dominate and strangle both the living and the not-yet born. Vampiric capital and undead corporate persons abuse the lives and control the thoughts of homo faber. Ideas, once born, become abortifacients against new conceptions.
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