Python may get pattern matching syntax

The creators of the Python language are mulling a new proposal, PEP 622, that would finally bring a sample matching statement syntax to Python. The new sample matching statements would give Python programmers a lot more expressive techniques of handling structured info, with out owning to resort to workarounds. 

Pattern matching is a popular attribute of lots of programming languages, these kinds of as swap/situation in C. It enables one particular of a number of probable steps to be taken primarily based on the price of a specified variable or expression. While Python has lacked a native syntax for sample matching, it has been probable to emulate it with if/elif/else chains or a dictionary lookup.

PEP 622 proposes a process for matching an expression against a number of varieties of patterns employing a match/situation syntax:

match one thing:
    situation  | 1 | 2:
        print("Smaller number")
    situation [] | [_]:
        print("A short sequence")
    situation str() | bytes():
        print("Some thing string-like")
    situation _:
        print("Some thing else")

Supported sample match sorts include literals, names, continual values, sequences, a mapping (generally, the presence of a crucial-price pair in the expression), a class, a combination of the over, or any of people additionally conditional expressions. Any matches that are ambiguous or not possible to take care of will toss an exception at runtime.

Objects can tackle match exams by way of a new protocol termed the __match__ protocol. If an item implements the __match__ process, it can be utilised to check if it matches a specified class sample and return an proper response.

PEP 622 would also let static kind checkers to verify that matches can be verified. A new @sealed decorator for a class indicates to kind checkers that any subclass of the class in concern is outlined in the very same module as the base class.

Earlier PEPs to insert sample matching — PEP 275 and PEP 3103, proposed in 2001 and 2006 respectively — were being turned down thanks to absence of preferred assist. PEP 3103 was drafted by Python creator Guido van Rossum. The new PEP, authored by van Rossum and several others, aims to supply frequent expressions for item matching, relatively than just a easy if/elif/else substitute. The authors observe that lots of aspects of this PEP were being encouraged by how sample matching performs in Rust and Scala. 

How all this would be carried out underneath the hood is nevertheless up for discussion. The implementation proposed in PEP 622 would deliver the very same bytecode sequences as an if/elif/else chain. Greater swap/situation blocks could grow to be much less performant based on how considerably conditional logic was integrated in each and every situation. But the PEP helps make it clear that any number of techniques and efficiency optimizations (e.g., memoization) are nevertheless on the desk.