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Created on 2021-01-27 18:42 by jessevsilverman, last changed 2022-04-11 14:59 by admin. This issue is now closed.
| Pull Requests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| URL | Status | Linked | Edit |
| PR 24514 | merged | terry.reedy, 2021-02-12 03:53 | |
| PR 24589 | merged | miss-islington, 2021-02-20 00:26 | |
| PR 24590 | merged | miss-islington, 2021-02-20 00:26 | |
| Messages (8) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| msg385800 - (view) | Author: Jesse Silverman (jessevsilverman) | Date: 2021-01-27 18:42 | |
In section 4.6 of the tutorial, we find: "When a function calls another function, a new local symbol table is created for that call." Now, perhaps because we were just looking at a function that people will often ask you to write both recursively and non-recursively and then ask which one you would use and why...I was thinking "Wait -- when a function calls itself recursively, obviously they need a new local symbol table or local variables won't work??" I may be confused, in which case the doc is fine and I personally need to better understand the moral equivalent of activation record / stack frame in Python. If I am not, given that recursion isn't much more computer science oriented or obscure than Fibonacci sequences, could it not be worth the investment of a few extra words as: "When a function calls another function, or calls itself recursively, a new local symbol table is created for that call." |
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| msg385935 - (view) | Author: Terry J. Reedy (terry.reedy) *  |
Date: 2021-01-29 20:37 | |
The sentence you quoted ends a paragraph that begins with a sentences saying the same thing even more clearly. "The execution of a function introduces a new symbol table used for the local variables of the function." I think the ending sentence could be deleted as redundant. Or it could be merged into the initial sentence with "When a function is called, the execution of that function ... ." What do you think? The me, the confusion of 'other function' is that it leaves open the possibility of 'same function' having a different result, as in languages with tail recursion conversion. But this is not true of python, which cares nothing about the caller. |
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| msg385948 - (view) | Author: Jesse Silverman (jessevsilverman) | Date: 2021-01-29 21:53 | |
Yes, your takeaway was what precisely what I was getting at. I sounded unsure because I was unsure. In reality, it doesn't matter whether a different function is being called or one is calling itself, the current wording suggests that it might. |
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| msg386148 - (view) | Author: Terry J. Reedy (terry.reedy) * |
Date: 2021-02-02 15:23 | |
Ramond, any opinion on this? We could just close this, but I consider either alternative enough of an improvement to write a PR and merge it. |
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| msg386850 - (view) | Author: Terry J. Reedy (terry.reedy) * |
Date: 2021-02-12 03:52 | |
https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/controlflow.html#defining-functions I decided to augment the sentence as suggested by Jesse, and see what any reviewers think. |
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| msg387372 - (view) | Author: Terry J. Reedy (terry.reedy) * |
Date: 2021-02-20 00:26 | |
New changeset b30fcba3a8abaabd1087f2392ae8aec4c1b1f210 by Terry Jan Reedy in branch 'master': bpo-43042: Augment tutorial sentence (GH-24514) https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/b30fcba3a8abaabd1087f2392ae8aec4c1b1f210 |
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| msg387373 - (view) | Author: miss-islington (miss-islington) | Date: 2021-02-20 00:36 | |
New changeset a072788c57f7a40ecc53cb32f795f4ec844c0aba by Miss Islington (bot) in branch '3.8': bpo-43042: Augment tutorial sentence (GH-24514) https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/a072788c57f7a40ecc53cb32f795f4ec844c0aba |
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| msg387375 - (view) | Author: miss-islington (miss-islington) | Date: 2021-02-20 00:47 | |
New changeset a67fd011eadfae7103ca9e0a0b0f8312e4f00b0f by Miss Islington (bot) in branch '3.9': bpo-43042: Augment tutorial sentence (GH-24514) https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/a67fd011eadfae7103ca9e0a0b0f8312e4f00b0f |
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| History | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | User | Action | Args |
| 2022-04-11 14:59:40 | admin | set | github: 87208 |
| 2021-02-22 21:18:03 | terry.reedy | set | keywords:
- patch status: open -> closed resolution: fixed stage: patch review -> resolved |
| 2021-02-20 00:47:04 | miss-islington | set | messages: + msg387375 |
| 2021-02-20 00:36:14 | miss-islington | set | messages: + msg387373 |
| 2021-02-20 00:26:51 | miss-islington | set | pull_requests: + pull_request23370 |
| 2021-02-20 00:26:44 | miss-islington | set | nosy:
+ miss-islington pull_requests: + pull_request23369 |
| 2021-02-20 00:26:32 | terry.reedy | set | messages: + msg387372 |
| 2021-02-12 03:53:41 | terry.reedy | set | keywords:
+ patch stage: needs patch -> patch review pull_requests: + pull_request23300 |
| 2021-02-12 03:52:50 | terry.reedy | set | title: Delete or merge redundant tutorial sentence. -> Augment tutorial sentence. nosy: - rhettinger messages: + msg386850 assignee: docs@python -> terry.reedy versions: + Python 3.8, Python 3.9 |
| 2021-02-02 15:23:22 | terry.reedy | set | nosy:
+ rhettinger messages: + msg386148 |
| 2021-01-31 01:17:47 | iritkatriel | set | keywords: + easy |
| 2021-01-29 21:53:41 | jessevsilverman | set | messages: + msg385948 |
| 2021-01-29 20:37:23 | terry.reedy | set | nosy:
+ terry.reedy title: tutorial ambiguous about creation of local symbol table for recursive calls -> Delete or merge redundant tutorial sentence. messages: + msg385935 versions: + Python 3.10, - Python 3.9 stage: needs patch |
| 2021-01-27 18:42:22 | jessevsilverman | create | |