Josh> I have a lot of except Exception, e statements in my code, which Josh> poses some problems. One of the biggest is whenever I refactor Josh> even the triviallest thing in my code.
Josh> I would like python to abort, almost as if it were a compile-time Josh> error, whenever it cannot find a function, or if I introduced a Josh> syntax error. But, instead, it merrily proceeds on its way. Josh> Is there some idiom that you use in situations like these? In general, I think you should be more specific in the exceptions you catch. For example, if you want to look up a key in a dictionary and most of the time it's there, but every now and again you need to add it, I'd use something like this: try: val = somedict[key] except KeyError: # need to initialize slot somedict[key] = INITIAL_VALUE That is, be as precise as you can in the exceptions you catch. Also, try to keep the body of the try block as small as you can. Skip -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list