First: I started this specifically in the context of the stats package and the NaN handling flag, but it did turn into a ore general discussion of Enums, so a final thought:
On Tue, Aug 31, 2021 at 4:17 AM Ronald Oussoren <ronaldousso...@mac.com> wrote: > > Not just static typing, but static analysis in general. Tools like flake8 > will complain about typos, completion tools can help typing, …. > ... > I tend to use constants instead of string literals because of better > static analysis, and try to convert uses to enums over time. String flags > work as well, but I’ve had too much problems due to typo’s in string > literals that weren’t caught by incomplete tests. Being able to at least > run a listing tool to find basic issues like typo’s is very convenient. > But YMMV. > I think this is the crux or it -- Enums are far more suited to static analysis. And that reflects a shift in Python over the years. Most of the changes in Python have made it a better "systems" language, and some have made it a somewhat more awkward "scripting" language. Features to support static analysis are a good example -- far less important for "scripting' that "systems programming". Personally, I find it odd -- I've spent literally a couple decades telling people that Python's dynamic nature is a net plus, and the bugs that static typing (and static analysis I suppose) catch for you are generally shallow bugs. (for example: misspelling a string flag is a shallow bug). But here we are. Anyway, if you are writing a quick script to calculate a few statistics, I think a string flag is easier. If you are writing a big system with some statistical calculations built in, you will appreciate the additional safety of an Enum. It's hard to optimize for different use cases. - CHB -- Christopher Barker, PhD (Chris) Python Language Consulting - Teaching - Scientific Software Development - Desktop GUI and Web Development - wxPython, numpy, scipy, Cython
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