From: Steve Howell <showell30@...>
Date: 2010-10-14T11:05:15+09:00
Subject: Re: Why does a lot of code not include parenthesis?

On Oct 11, 7:58 pm, "ara.t.howard" <ara.t.how...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> the only real argument for requiring parens is so that
>
>   o.foo  # returns the method foo
>
> as in javascript.  other arguments are mostly religious.
>

Python is like Javascript in that regard.

  $ python
  >>> def f(n=100): return n * 2
  ...
  >>> f
  <function f at 0xb75ae6bc>
  >>> f()
  200
  >>> x = f
  >>> x(30)
  60
  >>> x = f()
  >>> x
  200

  $ irb
  irb(main):001:0> def f(n=100) n * 2 end
  => nil
  irb(main):002:0> f
  => 200
  irb(main):003:0> f()
  => 200
  irb(main):004:0> x = method(:f)
  => #<Method: Object#f>
  irb(main):005:0> x.call(30)
  => 60

I work in both Python and Ruby, and I don't have a strong preference
for either style; it just requires a different mindset.