I realized that python already has a way to access the string-based members
of a dict without using quotes:
def expect_a_chair(chair, **kw):
print "Thanks. That chair is %s." % chair
if kw:
for key, val in kw.iteritems():
print "I wasn't expecting the (%s) %s!" % (val, key)
d = json.loads('{"chair":"comfy","inquisition":"Spanish"}')
expect_a_chair(**d)
try:
expect_a_chair({})
except TypeError:
print "No chair."
The ** operator does this. Notice that nowhere in that python code (not
counting the json) do I have to put "chair" in quotes.
Honestly, this solves my current use case. I can use functions like
expect_a_chair for everything I need right now.
But perhaps, if there were a quote-free way to access string-based dict
items, it should be based on this. The problem is, this ** operator is a
unary operator, and the non-unary ** is already taken.
So, I don't have a perfect name for my proposed quoteless synonym for
'["..."]'. My best option is '*.'. Note that this could also be used for
unpacking, and with defaults:
d*.(x,y,z) #=== (d["x"], d["y"], d['z'])
e=d*.(e=None) #like 'e=d.get("e", None)'.
Does this sound worth-it to anyone?
Jameson
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