#17958: implement declare_var, deprecate (None)var
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Reporter: rws | Owner:
Type: defect | Status: new
Priority: major | Milestone: sage-6.6
Component: symbolics | Resolution:
Keywords: | Merged in:
Authors: | Reviewers:
Report Upstream: N/A | Work issues:
Branch: | Commit:
Dependencies: | Stopgaps:
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Comment (by nbruin):
Replying to [comment:56 was]:
> It is also common for a Python function to do something with side
effects -- e.g., run a subprocess -- and also return some information
about what it did, e.g., the exit code. This is computer programming,
not mathematics.
I thought something similar originally as well (although I thought "this
is mathematics software, not computer programming"), but after seeing
several questions from people getting thoroughly confused, I came to the
conclusion that in this case having a side effect ''and'' a return value
is a major source of confusion. See the original comment
[http://trac.sagemath.org/ticket/17447#comment:23]. This is exacerbated by
the fact that `x=var('x')` is very common in the documentation, which
further trains people to be unaware of the side effect of `var`. See
comment:32 for a hypothesis on why this happens (which argues why the
return value of the side-effect-having `var` is a nuisance rather than
helpful)
We really need to decide if deprecating the current behaviour of `var` is
ever going to be doable (possibly with supporting indefinitely). If it's
not we can stop right now: we'll just be adding extra interfaces which
will only confuse people more. In that case it'll just be another victim
of the tar-pits of interface compatibility (which does have value).
--
Ticket URL: <http://trac.sagemath.org/ticket/17958#comment:58>
Sage <http://www.sagemath.org>
Sage: Creating a Viable Open Source Alternative to Magma, Maple, Mathematica,
and MATLAB
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