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No macros in Python

Bengt Richter bokr at oz.net
Mon Dec 16 23:57:56 EST 2002 
On Sun, 15 Dec 2002 20:37:47 -0500, Carl Banks <imbosol at vt.edu> wrote:

>Lulu of the Lotus-Eaters wrote:
>> But in general I would challenge
>> Cherniavsky, or anyone else, to present a case where anything could be
>> done significantly more easily in Python if macros were added.  I really
>> do not think there are any such situations.
>
>Here is the macro I've most often wished I had (in other languages,
>not Python):
>
>defmacro call_but_return_if_false(function,*args,**kwargs):
>    result = function(*args,**kwargs)
>    if not result:
>        return
>
Funny, I just posted something (in this thread) that implements alternate
returns on a control stack, where the callee makes the choice as to where to
continue after the return, but on the basis of specified alternatives.
Example code included, called spaghetti.py ;-)

>The return statement would return from the function this macro is
>expanded in, of course.  I don't need it in Python because exceptions
>are a much better method here.  God knows the Python source code could
>use it.
>
Hm. Prime example?

Regards,
Bengt Richter
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