[IPython-user] Re: [IPython-dev] I need feedback: new escapefor @magics?

[Ville Vainio]

Fernando Perez wrote:

> I must choose something which is invalid python syntax _forever_, 
> hence the appeal of binary ops, or something like a closing bracket as 
> the first character. I need the sequence to be, by definition, invalid 
> python.


Does it matter that much? I'd imagine the "magic" prefix would be 
unnecussary after the "big cleanup" - magics should just be normal 
python objects like everything else, recognized as magic (or, requiring 
special handling of their args) by their name and its existence in the 
table of special symbols. Yes, I'm jumping to conclusions here :-).

Half-seriously: why not use a bactick in the beginning of line? It's 
redundant anyway (repr), even more so in ipython. It's deprecation in 
py3k seems likely, and it's widely considered to suck anyway. And as I 
said, this magic prefix syntax is probably not for forever... 
additionally, as an interactive token, version compatibility is not an 
issue.