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What syntax would you then use for calling a function with multiple parameters? Function f takes two ints and I call it like this: f(3,456,789)

What are its parameters?



  f (3,456 789)
or

  f(3 456,789)
or

  f(3,456,789)
depending on intent. I mean the requirement of a common as a separator seems superfluous -- particularly in languages like Python which rely heavily on semantic whitespace.


True, but now you're asking for a change in function call syntax, just so you can print integers in a format that some people find more readable. That seems like a bit overkill...


I've been reading Steele's Common Lisp: the Language and one of the ideas I'm currently working out is based on how it talks about users and not programmers. I think this is an effect of the fact that using a Lisp on a Lisp Machine was just 'using the computer' like using DOS on a DOS machine or CPM on a CPM machine. Emacs Lisp is another example of a language conceived as a way of using a computer (in its case editing text) rather than for writing programs.

Anyway, baked into the question is the idea of localization (comma or dot) and under the computing language as a means of using (rather than programming) a computer, that makes perfect sense under modern practice. Even my phone does it.

I'm not expecting Python to change its function call syntax, and if I were able to change one thing on that scale it would be C's null terminated strings (in a New York minute). On the other hand, breaking changes to Python are not without precedent.




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