Steven D'Aprano <steve+pyt...@pearwood.info> added the comment:
This behaviour that goes all the way back to Python 1.5, if not older, before
strings even had methods:
[steve@ando ~]$ python1.5
Python 1.5.2 (#1, Aug 27 2012, 09:09:18) [GCC 4.1.2 20080704
(Red Hat 4.1.2-52)] on linux2
Copyright 1991-1995 Stichting Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam
>>> import string
>>> string.replace("abacadaeaf", "a", "Z", -1)
'ZbZcZdZeZf'
Hiding the fact that str.replace treats negative values as "replace all" just
causes confusion, as people wrongly jump to the conclusion that it is a bug.
It's not a bug, it is a useful feature and it has been in the language for over
20 years. VB.Net has the same feature:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/microsoft.visualbasic.strings.replace?view=netframework-4.8
Let's just document it as intentional and be done with it.
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nosy: +steven.daprano
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<https://bugs.python.org/issue39304>
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