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thunkingdeep02/20/20254 repliesview on HN

This does NOT mean Python will get Tail Call Optimization, as Guido cannot be shown The Light, and has decided.


Replies

beagle302/20/2025

It is not an optimization ; it changes program semantics - converts programs that will run out of stack eventually regardless of the amount of available memory (and raise exceptions an the process, for example, which a program might rely on. Either way, semantics are changed)

It should only be called Tail Call Elimination.

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rpcope102/20/2025

That's probably one of the more frustrating things about Python. Each release it gets all sorts of questionable new syntax (including the very strange pattern matching "feature" that kind of sucks compared to something like Erlang or Scala), but we never get real useful quality of life improvements for basic functional programming like TCO or multi line lambdas

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ehsankia02/20/2025

Guido is no longer BDFL though, it's the steering committee that decides.

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coldtea02/20/2025

Hasn't Guido step down from BD anyway?