Using comments as arguments in python.
Using comments as arguments in python.
Python allows programmers to pass additional arguments to functions via comments. Now armed with this knowledge head out and spread it to all code bases.
Feel free to use the code I wrote in your projects.
Link to the source code: https://github.com/raldone01/python_lessons_py/blob/main/lesson_0_comments.ipynb
Image transcription:
from lib import add
# Go ahead and change the comments.
# See how python uses them as arguments.
result = add() # 1 2
print(result)
result = add() # 3 4
print(result)
result = add() # 3 4 5 20
print(result)
Output:
3
7
32
They chose violence.
That's quite cool. But I'm not sure what's the use case for it.
I assume the people freaking out about how dumb python is didn't bother to read the code and have never coded in python in their life, because the behavior here is totally reasonable. Python doesn't parse comments normally, which is what you'd expect, but if you tell it to read the raw source code and then parse the raw source code for the comments specifically, of course it does.
You would never, ever accidentally do this.
...you'd also never, ever do it on purpose.
This is some javascript level shit
I fucking hate this, thanks OP
TMI 😢
That's disgusting
IMO comments should never ever be parsed under any circumstances but I probably don't know enough to really speak on this
+1 to that!
Ignoring lint issues comes to mind as an at least somewhat reasonable use case.
No, your intuition is correct, this is extremely cursed.
The
addfunction in the example above probably traverses the call stack to see what line of the script is currently being executed by the interpreter, then reads in that line in the original script, parses the comment, and subs in the values in the function call.This functionality exists so when you get a traceback you can see what line of code triggered it in the error message
One case where I find it useful, tho it operates in a more limited way, is code in block blocks within code comments in Rust, which are also printed out in the generated documentation. They essentially get ran as part of your unit tests. This is great for making sure that, eg, your examples left in code comments actually work, especially if they’re written in a way that functions like a unit test.
Some languages use the comments to generate documentation. Something like
// function to add two numbers func Add(num1 int, num2 int)
It's quite useful to parse comments and generate documentation from them, either as plain old hypertext or in your editor with LSP.
That sounds fine if you have something reading the file independently. But the actual executable code should not be able to access its own comments.
Thank you, I hate it
As if I needed more reasons to start away from python
You can so stupid shit in any language. I admit Python doesn't exactly make it difficult. A bit like JS, but different.
Do you stay away from C++ too? You can do this there too
https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/utility/source_location/line
checks the community to make sure I'm in programmer humor
Yeah that checks out
You know that this is acutally working right??? 😊
Yup, just one of those posts that could of course work in either
Implementation of the
add()function is here: https://github.com/raldone01/python_lessons_py/blob/main/lib.pyYup, the function actually goes and finds the code that calls it and parses the comment.
Disgusting.
This does not actually work, right? Right?
Anakin:
Anakin:
The
add()function (that is available in the source code) basically uses some built in debugging tools to find out where in the code the function is called, and then parses the comment from the file and uses it for adding stuff.I’ve never tried (becuse why would you…) but something similar can probably be built in any interpreted language
It’s not something Python does by design
~~It does work~~ I know it at least partially works
class add: count = 0 def __init__(self): add.count += 1 self.value = add.count def __str__(self): if self.value == 1: return "3" elif self.value == 2: return "7" else: return "32" result = add() # 1 2 print(result) result = add() # 3 4 print(result) result = add() # 3 4 5 20 print(result)
Every day further from god's light etc...
I feel sick
What? There is no
libmodule.$ python3.13 -c 'import lib' Traceback (most recent call last): File "<string>", line 1, in <module> import lib ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'lib' $OP wrote this add() function and has provided their own lib module in the source code.
Oh, so it’s not Python that’s cursed.
One of Python’s design philosophies is—or at least was—“we are all consenting adults here.” If you really want to turn Python into Brainfuck, the interpreter isn’t going to stop you.
Makes sence if u think about it. We use comments as docstrings that the interpreter has an understanding of. Python lets u fuck with its internals (at least in an immutable manner) so why not fuck with comments.
Why, just why
