Well no, it isn't trivial. It's just like using a loop instead of a goto: it makes your meaning clearer. The whole point is to make the semantics of your code e

Well no, it isn't trivial. It's just like using a loop instead of a goto: it makes your meaning clearer. The whole point is to make the semantics of your code easier to understand, not just to conserve lines. (Although conserving lines is also important--in my experience, a short one-line function is much easier to understand than a short three-line function.) The reason Python is cutting out reduce is that Van Rossum has an irrational antipathy towards functional programming, and that Python is really an imperative language throughout. (I know all too well as a functional programming aficionado forced to use Python.)