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Subject: Re: Why no warnings when re-assigning builtin names?
From: Philip Semanchuk <philip@semanchuk.com>
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Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2011 23:23:06 -0400
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On Aug 15, 2011, at 9:32 PM, Steven D'Aprano wrote:

> On Tue, 16 Aug 2011 08:15 am Chris Angelico wrote:
>=20
>> If you want a future directive that deals with it, I'd do it the =
other
>> way - from __future__ import mask_builtin_warning or something - so
>> the default remains as it currently is. But this may be a better job
>> for a linting script.
>=20
> Agreed. It's a style issue, nothing else. There's nothing worse about:
>=20
> def spam(list):
>    pass
>=20
> compared to
>=20
> class thingy: pass
>=20
> def spam(thingy):
>    pass
>=20
> Why should built-ins be treated as more sacred than your own objects?

Because built-ins are described in the official documentation as having =
a specific behavior, while my objects are not.

Yes, it can be useful to replace some of the builtins with one's own =
implementation, and yes, doing so fits in with Python's "we're all =
consenting adults" philosophy. But replacing (shadowing, masking -- call =
it what you will) builtins is not everyday practice. On the contrary, as =
the OP Gerrat pointed out, it's most often done unwittingly by newcomers =
to the language who have no idea that they've done anything out of the =
ordinary or potentially confusing.=20

If a language feature is most often invoked accidentally without =
knowledge of or regard for its potential negative consequences, then it =
might be worth making it easier to avoid those accidents.=20

bye,
Philip=