non-descriptive variable name

[YuriKanivetsky]

BPO	32450
Nosy	@brettcannon, @terryjreedy, @ncoghlan, @benjaminp, @1st1

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = None
closed_at = <Date 2018-01-06.20:17:33.293>
created_at = <Date 2017-12-30.01:49:41.712>
labels = ['type-feature', '3.7']
title = 'non-descriptive variable name'
updated_at = <Date 2018-01-06.20:17:33.292>
user = 'https://bugs.python.org/YuriKanivetsky'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2018-01-06.20:17:33.292>
actor = 'benjamin.peterson'
assignee = 'none'
closed = True
closed_date = <Date 2018-01-06.20:17:33.293>
closer = 'benjamin.peterson'
components = []
creation = <Date 2017-12-30.01:49:41.712>
creator = 'Yuri Kanivetsky'
dependencies = []
files = []
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 32450
keywords = []
message_count = 4.0
messages = ['309212', '309520', '309537', '309574']
nosy_count = 6.0
nosy_names = ['brett.cannon', 'terry.reedy', 'ncoghlan', 'benjamin.peterson', 'yselivanov', 'Yuri Kanivetsky']
pr_nums = []
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'wont fix'
stage = 'resolved'
status = 'closed'
superseder = None
type = 'enhancement'
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue32450'
versions = ['Python 3.7']

[YuriKanivetsky]

Not a big issue, really. At some point the code switches from "ndots" name:

https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/v3.7.0a3/Python/ast.c#L3385

to "level" name:

https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/v3.7.0a3/Python/Python-ast.c#L1671

Be it "ndots" everywhere, it could save me some time.

[terryjreedy]

'ndots' is an internal name in the import-from branch of the import statement handler. It seems reasonable in that context. 'level' is part of the public api for the ImportFrom node class, and cannot be changed as such. It is also the parameter that receives the ndot value in the ImportFrom call, to be assigned to the level attribute. Making the name switch in the call is at least as reasonable as in the assignment. I am not the expert here, but I would be inclined to rejected this as not worth the code churn.

[benjaminp]

I would accept a PR to rename the variable in ast.c to "level", but I'm not sure why it should matter to you.

[YuriKanivetsky]

Well, it's just that I was digging into Python's code. And it took me quite a while to figure out what the variable holds. Running into "ndots" name clarified that. That generally means that variable name doesn't describe its content well. But I'm new to Python's code, so it might not be the case. Feel free to close the issue.