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From: Robert Kern <robert.kern@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Python is readable
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:43:44 +0000
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On 3/15/12 2:30 PM, Kiuhnm wrote:
> On 3/15/2012 15:23, Duncan Booth wrote:
>> Kiuhnm<kiuhnm03.4t.yahoo.it> wrote:
>>
>>> BTW, aren't those ':' redundant?
>>>
>>
>> They are required by the grammar, but in a sense you are correct. You could
>> modify Python's grammar to make the colons optional and still keep it
>> unambiguous but that would make it harder for other tools (such as text
>> editors or indeed humans) to understand.
>
> Sorry, but I can't see how it would make it harder for humans to understand. Are
> there particular situations you're referring to?

There were usability studies done on one of Python's indentation-based 
ancestors, ABC. Those studies found, empirically, that having the colons helped 
people read and understand the code faster.

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
  that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
  an underlying truth."
   -- Umberto Eco