Hi --
According to my experience, it's because Python is just insanely
inconsistent in every single way.
examples?
I will start with a ruby one:
$1 to $9
The contents of successive groups matched in the last successful
pattern match.
In "cat" =~/(c|a)(t|z)/, $1 will be set to ``a'' and $2 to ``t''.
This variable is local to the current scope. {}
I don't think you'd want it any other way. Imagine if you were using
those variables, and you called another method also did a matching
operation. Your $1 and friends would be clobbered.
$0
The name of the top-level Ruby program being executed.
Typically this will be the program's filename.
On some operating systems, assigning to this variable will
change the name of the process reported (for example)
by the ps(1) command.
Actually this are two in one. If $1 to $9 are groups, I don't
think $0 is following the principal of least surprise.
POLS is *so* 2002... 
Anyway, it never meant that you didn't have
to learn anything to use Ruby. You have to learn that $0 is the
filename even though the other /^\$\d+$/ variables aren't. There: now
you know
Additionally $1 to $9 aren't global despite the '$'.
That's actually good -- see above. (Unless you'd like 1,2,3...
themselves to be reassigned the values of your captures...? If
you don't like $1 etc. you can always use the MatchData object
directly.
My personal slogan for Ruby is:
The triumph of balance over symmetry
and I guess one could add: the triumph of balance over mechanistic
consistency. Yes, abc can be a method while def is a keyword and ghi
is a variable. That's "inconsistent", but it has a positive, rather
than negative, effect on the design of the language and the look of
the code.
Don't you like it better this way?
David
ยทยทยท
On Fri, 19 Aug 2005, Kroeger Simon (ext) wrote:
--
David A. Black
dblack@wobblini.net