[olooney]

I agree. Lots of Python programmers use "_" as a variable name to indicate (by convention) that they don't intend to use the variable yet are syntactically required to give it a name[1]. Some common examples:

    for _ in range(10):
        ...

    red, _, _ = rgb(color)

    first, *_, last = some_list

This convention conflicts with the use of a global variable named "_" because the first time a programmer uses this convention and rebinds "_" to something arbitrary it will mask the "_" imported from pampy. Of course a programmer is free to give it a more conventional name:

    from pampy import _ as placeholder

But for my money pampy should have given "_" a real name and left it up to the programmer to give it a short alias if so desired:

    from pampy import placeholder as _

This is in line with common conventions around say, numpy, which is conventionally aliased to the shorter "np" on import:

    import numpy as np

[1]: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5893163/what-is-the-purp...

EDIT: So it turns out that pampy already has a more explicitly named alternative to "_" called "ANY". So anybody who doesn't like the _ syntax can use "from pampy import ANY" and use that instead.