david pokorny vpwtpanfhgmailcom wed apr 2 2008 1136 guido van rossum wrote problem make slow foolproof implementation common name youll invent another name fast sometimes less convenient method ended python 22 iterkeys friends unfortunately despite assertion people think code run fast possible hence see great proliferation iterkeys calls fastbutrequiringcare implementation becomes popular slowbutsimple version duplication apis id much rather single api made serve everyone equally predict listxkeys remain rarity except code converted 2to3 however sortedxkeys become wellknown idiom much better one old idiom keys xkeys keyssort doesnt led easily use expression agree people think code run fast possible particular case common practice common sense diverge 80 ones code makes negligible contribution performance clearly need optimize average programmer anyway imagine best programmers would probably social pressure entirely fair one could say change encourages average programmers keep bad habits understand appeal single api particular case two arguably distinct use cases getting keys dict iterating keys dict one could change syntax getting keys would spelled xkeys iterating keys would look like k keys x joink k keys x would make keys keyword identifier understanding would entail change architecture tokenizer maybe parser well strikes temporary intrinsic objection elaborate point impact programmer new python find x 12 xkeys 1 much appealing xkeys taught scheme programming high school students know experience try absolutely everything wrong course million confusing things learn think real value making simple operation core type straightforward possible david _______________________________________________ python3000 mailing list smsbmo9552pythonorg httpmailpythonorgmailmanlistinfopython3000 unsubscribe httpmailpythonorgmailmanoptionspython3000python300040tangomucom wed 06 aug 2008 225909 0700 python3000 spooky behavior dictitems friends