Should data structures be integrated into the language (as in Python) or be provided in the standard library (as in Java)?
- by Anto
In Python, and most likely many other programming languages, common data structures can be found as an integrated part of the core language with their own dedicated syntax. If we put LISP's integrated list syntax aside, I can't think of any other languages that I know which provides some kind of data structure above the array as an integrated part of their syntax, though all of them (but C, I guess) seem to provide them in the standard library.
From a language design perspective, what are your opinions on having a specific syntax for data structures in the core language? Is it a good idea, and does the purpose of the language (etc.) change how good this could be of a choice?
Edit: I'm sorry for (apparently) causing some confusion about which data structures I mean. I talk about the basic and commonly used ones, but still not the most basic ones. This excludes trees (too complex, uncommon), stacks (too seldom used), arrays (too simple) but includes e.g. sets, lists and hashmaps.
