Reopening of issue 4181.

Evaluating default parameter values when the function definition is
executed is a design bug.

Even the documentation of this behaviour (see
http://docs.python.org/reference/compound_stmts.html#index-754) makes
this clear by stating: "This is generally not what was intended." It
then makes a suggestion for a workaround ("A way around this ..."). Only
bugs need workarounds.

An interface or behaviour should fulfil a users expectation for the
"normal" case, not for some "special" case. For a default parameter
value a user expects that whenever this function gets called a new
instance of a mutable object is created. This is much closer to the
current behaviour for non-mutable objects.

Usage cases for the current default behaviour are less common.

No, it is NOT a bug. The behavior will NOT chance. I'm marking this bug
as a documentation issue.

I'd like to second rhr. The current behaviour is is not according to
Pythons design principle of least surprise. After 5+ years of Python
experience as Zope and Plone developer I recently fell into that trap.

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Just for information (Discussion thread on a Pre-PEP started Feb 14, 2007:

  http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-3000/2007-February/005704.html

The BDFL statement to this:

  http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-3000/2007-February/005715.html

Mutable function arguments and class variables are python's mechanisms
to provide data persistence at these scope levels.  Quite opposite of
design flaw, they are necessary!  Write a decorator to change the
behavior   where you'd like an empty mutable defaults if you're not
happy with other methods already described.

I don't see the need to do anything about this. Python works correctly,
and the documentation correctly describes how it works, and how using
mutable objects as default values typically doesn't do what the
programmer normally expects.

In any case, a bug report is not the place to request such a change. At
a minimum, a PEP would have to be written (which then likely can't be
accepted before Python 4.0).