[Satosa-dev] Default value semantics

[Scott Koranda]

> In terms of handling this, there is currently a function under
> `src/satosa/util.py` namely `get_dict_defaults()` that favours "" over
> "default" – it fallbacks to "default" if "" is not set. While this is
> fine and works, it is not used across the codebase.

I would like to see a standard approach across the codebase.

> What are your opinions? Do you think this should settle to a single
> way of representing a default set, even if that means that people
> using "" or "default" will have to migrate (this would be a breaking
> change for their configs)? Which is the most appropriate way to go?

I think we should migrate to using get_dict_defaults() but change that
method/function so that it favours "default" over "".

The idiom "" is not recognizable to people who are not Python
developers. It looks odd to them and like a sytax mistake or that the
person writing the documentation has forgotten something.

Thanks,

Scott K