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Re: Default Value

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From Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com>
Date Thu, 20 Jun 2013 11:57:34 -0600
Subject Re: Default Value
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On Thu, Jun 20, 2013 at 11:19 AM, Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 21, 2013 at 3:12 AM, rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Python (and all the other 'cool' languages) dont have gotchas because
>> someone malevolently put them there.
>> In most cases, the problem is seen too late and the cost of changing
>> entrenched code too great.
>> Or the problem is clear, the solution is not etc etc.
>
> Or, in many MANY cases, the choice was the right one, but isn't
> obvious to everyone.

I think it's worth pointing out that changing function defaults to
late-binding would merely change the nature of the gotcha, not eliminate it.

words = ("one", "two", "red", "blue", "fish")

def join_strings(strings=words):
    return ' '.join('%s %s' % (s, strings[-1]) for s in strings[:-1])

# Later:
words = open("gettysburg_address.txt", "r").read().split()
# Oops, the default argument of join_strings just changed.


Additionally, with late-binding semantics the default values would no
longer be default *values*.  They would be initialization code
instead, which sort of flies in the face of the idea that late-binding
would somehow be better for functional programming -- if the default
expressions have no side effects and since they don't depend on the
function arguments, why should they need to run more than once?  If
the goal is indeed to make the the functions more functional, then the
proper solution would be to keep the binding early but just disallow
mutable defaults altogether -- which is tricky to achieve in Python,
so we simply emulate it with the advice "don't use mutable function
defaults".

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Thread

Default Value Ahmed Abdulshafy <abdulshafy@gmail.com> - 2013-06-19 12:17 -0700
  Re: Default Value Jussi Piitulainen <jpiitula@ling.helsinki.fi> - 2013-06-19 22:35 +0300
  Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-19 12:38 -0700
    Re: Default Value rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-06-20 05:57 -0700
      Re: Default Value Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2013-06-20 09:19 -0400
        Re: Default Value rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-06-20 06:31 -0700
        Re: Default Value Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2013-06-21 00:17 +0000
          Re: Default Value Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2013-06-20 20:25 -0400
      Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-20 07:49 -0700
        Re: Default Value Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 01:38 +1000
          Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-20 11:05 -0700
            Re: Default Value Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2013-06-21 00:57 +0000
              Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-20 20:16 -0700
                Re: Default Value Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 17:10 +1000
                Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 07:32 -0700
                Re: Default Value Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2013-06-21 16:22 +0000
            Re: Default Value Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2013-06-21 15:57 +0000
              Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 10:01 -0700
                Re: Default Value Rotwang <sg552@hotmail.co.uk> - 2013-06-21 18:47 +0100
                Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 11:26 -0700
                Re: Default Value Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2013-06-21 18:37 +0000
                Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 12:18 -0700
                Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 12:35 -0700
                Re: Default Value Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-06-22 05:07 +1000
                Re: Default Value Neil Cerutti <neilc@norwich.edu> - 2013-06-21 19:20 +0000
                Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 13:27 -0700
                Re: Default Value Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2013-06-22 01:31 +0000
                Re: Default Value Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-06-22 11:40 +1000
                Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 18:42 -0700
                Re: Default Value MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2013-06-22 03:04 +0100
                Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 19:32 -0700
                Re: Default Value MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2013-06-22 20:36 +0100
                Re: Default Value Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2013-06-22 18:51 -0400
                Re: Default Value rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 19:43 -0700
                Re: Default Value Mark Lawrence <breamoreboy@yahoo.co.uk> - 2013-06-22 09:26 +0100
                Re: Default Value MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2013-06-21 20:25 +0100
                Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 13:44 -0700
                Re: Default Value MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2013-06-21 23:49 +0100
                Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 16:51 -0700
                Re: Default Value MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2013-06-22 02:54 +0100
                Re: Default Value Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2013-06-22 01:15 +0000
                Re: Default Value Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 19:27 -0600
                Re: Default Value rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 19:32 -0700
                Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 19:55 -0700
                Re: Default Value rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 23:23 -0700
                Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-22 08:07 -0700
                Re: Default Value rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-06-22 08:31 -0700
                Re: Default Value rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-06-22 09:11 -0700
                Re: Default Value Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2013-06-24 14:22 +0000
                Re: [SPAM] Re: Default Value MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2013-06-24 16:22 +0100
                Re: Default Value Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-06-22 11:41 +1000
                Re: Default Value Michael Torrie <torriem@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 20:46 -0600
                Re: Default Value Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2013-06-22 16:40 +0200
                Re: Default Value Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2013-06-22 12:49 -0400
                Re: Default Value Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2013-06-22 12:57 -0600
                Re: Default Value Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2013-06-22 18:48 -0400
                Re: Default Value Rotwang <sg552@hotmail.co.uk> - 2013-06-22 00:40 +0100
                Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 18:15 -0700
                Re: Default Value Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-06-22 11:37 +1000
                Re: Default Value Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 19:42 -0600
                Re: Default Value Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 19:38 -0600
                Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 19:40 -0700
                Re: Default Value Rotwang <sg552@hotmail.co.uk> - 2013-06-22 03:01 +0100
                Re: Default Value Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-06-22 12:18 +1000
                Re: Default Value Rotwang <sg552@hotmail.co.uk> - 2013-06-22 03:25 +0100
                Re: Default Value Rotwang <sg552@hotmail.co.uk> - 2013-06-22 18:19 +0100
                Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-22 11:49 -0700
                Re: Default Value Rotwang <sg552@hotmail.co.uk> - 2013-06-23 01:49 +0100
        Re: Default Value rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-06-20 10:12 -0700
          Re: Default Value Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 03:19 +1000
            Re: Default Value rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-06-20 10:30 -0700
          Re: Default Value Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2013-06-20 11:57 -0600
            Re: Default Value rusi <rustompmody@gmail.com> - 2013-06-20 11:15 -0700
            Re: Default Value Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2013-06-21 01:08 +0000
              Re: Default Value Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2013-06-20 20:26 -0500
                Re: Default Value Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2013-06-20 21:40 -0400
                Re: Default Value Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com> - 2013-06-20 21:02 -0500
          Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-20 11:07 -0700
            Re: Default Value alex23 <wuwei23@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 10:55 +1000
          Re: Default Value 88888 Dihedral <dihedral88888@gmail.com> - 2013-06-20 19:18 -0700
          Re: Default Value Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2013-06-21 02:26 +0000
          Re: Default Value "Lefavor, Matthew (GSFC-582.0)[MICROTEL LLC]" <matthew.lefavor@nasa.gov> - 2013-06-20 17:28 -0500
            Re: Default Value Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> - 2013-06-21 08:17 -0700
        Re: Default Value Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2013-06-21 01:28 +0000
  Re: Default Value Gary Herron <gherron@digipen.edu> - 2013-06-19 12:57 -0700
  Re: Default Value Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2013-06-20 01:17 +0000

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