Clarify that format strings accept arbitrary tokens as field names
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Description
Bug report
Bug description:
Should the code below produce an error?
'{(}'.format(**{'(': 2})
This produces '2' in Python 3.14.5 on MacOS.
Reading
https://docs.python.org/3/library/string.html#format-string-syntax
replacement_field: "{" [field_name] ["!" conversion] [":" format_spec] "}"
field_name: arg_name ("." attribute_name | "[" element_index "]")*
arg_name: [identifier | digit+]
this ends up pointing to identifier at https://docs.python.org/3/reference/lexical_analysis.html#grammar-token-python-grammar-identifier
NAME: name_start name_continue*
name_start: "a"..."z" | "A"..."Z" | "_" | <non-ASCII character>
name_continue: name_start | "0"..."9"
identifier: <NAME, except keywords>
Given that '(' is an Ascii character, then ( is not a valid identifier and it should not be allowed.
CPython versions tested on:
3.14
Operating systems tested on:
macOS
Linked PRs
- gh-151064
- gh-153143
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reproducing the shown format-string example and reading the linked format string syntax and identifier grammar documentation. Compare the documented field-name rules with the observed behavior, and consider the linked PRs as the existing work; done means the behavior and documentation agree on whether arbitrary tokens are accepted.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- compilers
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100