Proposal: add sys to __builtins__

[Michael Hoffman]

What would people think about adding sys to __builtins__ so that
"import sys" is no longer necessary? This is something I must add to
every script I write that's not a one-liner since they have this idiom
at the bottom:

if __name__ == "__main__":
sys.exit(main(s ys.argv[1:]))

Additionally, the necessity of "import sys" makes some one-liners a
little more unwieldy than they should be--it is surely the module I am
missing the most in one-liners. For example, with this proposal, this
inelegant one-liner:

$ python -c "import sys; print ''.join(sorted( sys.stdin.readl ines()))"

could be replaced by:

$ python -c "print ''.join(sorted( sys.stdin.readl ines()))"

Since sys is surely the most commonly used module (it is imported in 108
of 188 Python 2.4 stdlib modules on my system, and certainly more than
any other module), I would hope few people would be affected by a
namespace collision.

Other languages (e.g. C#) always make their system namespace available
without needing a special import.

In short, given the wide use of sys, its unambiguous nature, and the
fact that it really is built-in already, although not exposed as such, I
think we would be better off if sys were always allowed even without an
import statement.
--
Michael Hoffman

[James Stroud]

I'm into *real* purity. I would rather begin every script:

from python import list, str, dict, sys, os

Oh wait. I only use dict in less than 50% of my scripts:

from python import list, str, sys, os

That's better.

On Saturday 03 September 2005 02:09, tiissa wrote:

I was just stating your proposal didn't really solve anything. A good
editor/template and .pythonrc already save you the typing of 'import
sys' in scripts for the former and shell command for the latter.

--
James Stroud
UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics
Box 951570
Los Angeles, CA 90095

http://www.jamesstroud.com/

[Tom Anderson]

On Sun, 25 Sep 2005, James Stroud wrote:

I'm into *real* purity. I would rather begin every script:

from python import list, str, dict, sys, os

Oh wait. I only use dict in less than 50% of my scripts:

from python import list, str, sys, os

That's better.

What? How exactly is that pure? "from x import y" is bletcherosity
incarnate! You should do:

import python

s = python.str(5)
# etc

And don't let me see you importing like that again!

tom

--
90% mental, 25% effort, 8% mathematics