I de-edited the end of my comment, because of weird time-related issues. > The feature is good and Python should finish integrating lambdas rather than sitting

I de-edited the end of my comment, because of weird time-related issues. > The feature is good and Python should finish integrating lambdas rather than sitting on their half-cocked nod to it. They cannot now for 2 years, maybe more. It's hard to "finish" a thing that hasn't started. Python has a whole aesthetic, and multi-line lambdas will likely never be a part of it. It's really quite a minor difference. I really think I'm not a zealot on the issue, and that I'm quite aware of the differences: http://billmill.org/multi_line_lambdas.html http://billmill.org/multi_line_lambdas.html ; what I'd like you to demonstrate is a place where giving a function a name is more than a minor inconvenience, and list comprehensions don't satisfy the need.