On 01/26/12 16:36, William Stein wrote: >> >> Why *not* use it? > > The standard argument against preparser stuff like this is that you > have to be careful to not use it when writing .py code for the Sage > core library. But at least this matrix notation will always result > in a SyntaxError if used in Python code.
A better reason is that, once implemented, someone has to maintain it forever. This is a fairly invasive preparse, and will likely cause more than a few bugs (see implicit multiplication for examples). It also risks suggesting that sage matrices behave like matlab ones, which could cause confusion. Furthermore, some preparses are mutually exclusive: if you implement this one now, and Mathematica comes out with a killer feature a year from now using similar syntax ([do; my; homework; for; me;]), you can't preparse that. Some preparses are worth it, obviously; I wouldn't throw them both out because they might conflict with one another. But the bar for inclusion should be pretty high. -- To post to this group, send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URL: http://www.sagemath.org
