On 2009-03-08, Rhodri James <rho...@wildebst.demon.co.uk> wrote: >>>> >>>> b = (n is not None) and (n != []) >>> >>> The second comparison isn't actually necessary, since an >>> empty list is True and a non-empty one False. >>> >>> b = (n is not None) and n >>> >>> Putting the comparison in does make the code slightly less >>> "magic", though, so it's not a bad idea to do it! >> >> Putting in the second comparison in makes the code match the >> stated requirement. Otherwise you have to start making >> assumptions about what n might be besides None or the empty >> list. > > The OP stated that we *could* assume that n was None or a > list, so I stand by what I said.
I didn't say that he hadn't authorized that assumption. I just said that the code does rely on such an assumption. In my experience, assumptions like that result broken code down the road. -- Grant -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
