making : optional

[Skaperen]

is there any case where a compound statement (if, while, for, try, with) can be made without ending with a : character? i cannot find any in the Python Language Reference. i am thinking that code with a missing : character could still be accepted as valid and be correctly understood as intended. perhaps this could be shown by a script that adds the missing : characters.

[Yoriz]

Why are colons required for the if/while/def/class statements?
The colon is required primarily to enhance readability (one of the results of the experimental ABC language). Consider this:

if a == b
    print(a)

versus

if a == b:
    print(a)

Notice how the second one is slightly easier to read. Notice further how a colon sets off the example in this FAQ answer; it’s a standard usage in English.

Another minor reason is that the colon makes it easier for editors with syntax highlighting; they can look for colons to decide when indentation needs to be increased instead of having to do a more elaborate parsing of the program text.

[Gribouillis]

I'm not sure it can always be done, consider the following statement

if a: - x >> spam + y

if you remove the colon it becomes

if a - x >> spam + y

where is the end of the if statement? It could mean

if a - x >> spam: + y

Also what is at stake? Would Python be any better without these colon characters? As I told you, i find much more interesting to remove the dot operator, and I already have a working system that does it at adddot

[Skaperen]

ok, that's a case where the : has meaning and is needed. but if someone codes the hard to read:

if a == b
    print(a)

in some language fork that let the line separation imply the meaning, why not let : also do that (without restarting the indentation parsing at that point in the middle of the line)? iow, i'm not saying to remove the requirement of : unless it ends the line (not counting comments).