Why is Python so strict about automatically casting differently typed literals?
mcav: I rarely use str() and int() unless I'm doing conversion of user input (e.g. web apps). You'd have to be more specific about your usage.For instance, string formatting doesn't require casts -- just pretend everything's a string:    >>> print "%s %s %s = %s" % (4, '-', 1, 3)
    4 - 1 = 3