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[Python-Dev] Re: Guido's Magic Code was: inline sort option

Guido van Rossum guido at python.org
Thu Oct 30 10:43:04 EST 2003 
> >     a = [3,2,1]
> >     print a.sorted()
> >     print list.sorted(a)
> 
> Actually, yes, it IS compelling indeed.  Funny -- I was originally just
> brainstorming / musing out loud, never thought about this as a "real
> thing".  But now that it's matured a bit, I do feel sure [...]

If you feel about it that way, I recommend that you let it mature a
bit more.

If you really like this so much, please realize that you can do this
for *any* instance method.  The identity

   C.foo(C()) == C().foo()

holds for all "regular" methods.  (Since 2.2 it also holds for
extension types.)  If we were to do this, we'd be back at square two,
which we rejected: list instances having both a sort() and a sorted()
method (square one being no sorted() method at all :-).

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)
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