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Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers?

From Rotwang <sg552@hotmail.co.uk>
Newsgroups comp.lang.python
Subject Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers?
Date 2013-12-07 00:47 +0000
Organization A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID <l7tr6b$856$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References (4 earlier) <d13e811f-f496-418a-b737-f4fbf1286cc5@googlegroups.com> <mailman.3588.1386193334.18130.python-list@python.org> <e106efd6-a604-4ccc-b225-a9a566d43a26@googlegroups.com> <mailman.3650.1386338903.18130.python-list@python.org> <07ce304a-644b-4e90-8c7d-5d1dcc28ed81@googlegroups.com>

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On 06/12/2013 16:51, Piotr Dobrogost wrote:
>> [...]
>>
>> I thought of that argument later the next day. Your proposal does
>> unify access if the old obj.x syntax is removed.
>
> As long as obj.x is a very concise way to get attribute named 'x' from
> object obj it's somehow odd that identifier x is treated not like
> identifier but like string literal 'x'. If it were treated like an
> identifier then we would get attribute with name being value of x
> instead attribute named 'x'. Making it possible to use string literals
> in the form obj.'x' as proposed this would make getattr basically
> needless as long as we use only variable not expression to denote
> attribute's name.

But then every time you wanted to get an attribute with a name known at 
compile time you'd need to write obj.'x' instead of obj.x, thereby 
requiring two additional keystrokes. Given that the large majority of 
attribute access Python code uses dot syntax rather than getattr, this 
seems like it would massively outweigh the eleven keystrokes one saves 
by writing obj.'x' instead of getattr(obj,'x').

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Thread

Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Piotr Dobrogost <p@google-groups-2013.dobrogost.net> - 2013-12-03 09:14 -0800
  Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Ned Batchelder <ned@nedbatchelder.com> - 2013-12-03 12:38 -0500
  Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names
 not being valid identifiers? Dave Angel <davea@davea.name> - 2013-12-03 12:48 -0500
    Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Piotr Dobrogost <p@google-groups-2013.dobrogost.net> - 2013-12-04 14:05 -0800
      Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with
 names not being valid identifiers? Dave Angel <davea@davea.name> - 2013-12-04 17:28 -0500
  Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2013-12-03 09:31 -0800
    Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Piotr Dobrogost <p@google-groups-2013.dobrogost.net> - 2013-12-03 15:49 -0800
  Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? random832@fastmail.us - 2013-12-03 13:03 -0500
    Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Piotr Dobrogost <p@google-groups-2013.dobrogost.net> - 2013-12-03 15:47 -0800
      Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2013-12-03 19:06 -0600
        Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Piotr Dobrogost <p@google-groups-2013.dobrogost.net> - 2013-12-04 12:35 -0800
          Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2013-12-04 20:46 +0000
          Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Jerry Hill <malaclypse2@gmail.com> - 2013-12-04 15:58 -0500
          Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2013-12-04 13:02 -0800
          Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Neil Cerutti <neilc@norwich.edu> - 2013-12-04 21:41 +0000
            Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Piotr Dobrogost <p@google-groups-2013.dobrogost.net> - 2013-12-04 13:54 -0800
              Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Neil Cerutti <neilc@norwich.edu> - 2013-12-06 14:07 +0000
                Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Piotr Dobrogost <p@google-groups-2013.dobrogost.net> - 2013-12-06 08:51 -0800
                Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Rotwang <sg552@hotmail.co.uk> - 2013-12-07 00:47 +0000
            Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Piotr Dobrogost <p@google-groups-2013.dobrogost.net> - 2013-12-04 14:13 -0800
              Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2013-12-04 15:09 -0800
                Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Piotr Dobrogost <p@google-groups-2013.dobrogost.net> - 2013-12-04 15:57 -0800
                Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2013-12-04 16:26 -0800
                Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Ned Batchelder <ned@nedbatchelder.com> - 2013-12-04 20:17 -0500
          Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2013-12-04 21:58 -0500
          Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2013-12-04 19:05 -0800
          Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2013-12-05 07:56 +0000
      Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Tim Roberts <timr@probo.com> - 2013-12-03 21:45 -0800
        Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-12-03 22:31 -0800
          Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2013-12-04 01:57 -0700
            Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-12-04 02:09 -0800
              Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2013-12-04 11:29 +0100
                Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-12-04 04:01 -0800
                Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2013-12-04 13:32 +0100
                Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-12-04 05:02 -0800
                Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2013-12-04 20:57 +0100
              Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-12-04 21:33 +1100
                Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-12-04 03:27 -0800
              Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2013-12-04 05:25 -0600
              Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Jussi Piitulainen <jpiitula@ling.helsinki.fi> - 2013-12-04 13:30 +0200
                Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-12-04 22:40 +1100
                Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2013-12-04 07:56 -0800
              Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2013-12-04 19:43 -0700
                Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-12-04 20:48 -0800
          Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2013-12-04 19:27 -0500
            Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2013-12-04 20:03 -0500
        Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2013-12-04 01:12 -0800
        Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2013-12-04 08:23 -0500
          Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Piotr Dobrogost <p@google-groups-2013.dobrogost.net> - 2013-12-04 13:00 -0800
        Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Piotr Dobrogost <p@google-groups-2013.dobrogost.net> - 2013-12-04 12:07 -0800
          Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2013-12-04 12:22 -0800
          Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2013-12-04 20:55 +0000
          Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2013-12-04 13:00 -0800
          Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2013-12-04 17:11 -0500
            Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Piotr Dobrogost <p@google-groups-2013.dobrogost.net> - 2013-12-04 15:42 -0800
              Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2013-12-04 22:21 -0500
          Re: Why is there no natural syntax for accessing attributes with names not being valid identifiers? Rotwang <sg552@hotmail.co.uk> - 2013-12-05 01:50 +0000

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