Artihmetic expression as values

[nyovaya]

What about having arithmetic expression as a value, e.g.:

size = 1024 * 1024 * 8

which would simplify setting values which even derive from arithmetic expressions and as you just need to edit one multiplicand to change the wished result.

[pradyunsg]

Is the underlying motivation the same as #427?

[nyovaya]

@pradyunsg no as it could also be used for time e.g.

time = 60 * 60 * 12

[eksortso]

A time duration/timedelta type is proposed in #514.

Unit conversion suffixes and timedelta types would be pretty good additions to the standard, I think. Arbitrary arithmetic expressions, not so much.

[quadrupleslap]

Why is that better than a comment?

time = 43200 # 12 hours

[setop]

Why is that better than a comment?

time = 42300 # 12 hours

Because a comment can become inconsistent...

[nyovaya]

Why is that better than a comment?

time = 43200 # 12 hours

because you need to recalculate the whole instead of just changing one term

[pradyunsg]

While I can see the value that this could have in certain situations, I don't think this is a super valuable addition. Broadly, I don't think a configuration file format should have operator logic happening within it. I think this is further demonstated by the lack of activity on this issue, compared to the rest of the issue tracker. :)

None the less, thanks for proposal and your patience on this!