Op 2005-08-27, Steve Holden schreef <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: >> >> > If you want an exception from your code when 'w' isn't in the string you > should consider using index() rather than find.
Sometimes it is convenient to have the exception thrown at a later time. > Otherwise, whatever find() returns you will have to have an "if" in > there to handle the not-found case. And maybe the more convenient place for this "if" is in a whole different part of your program, a part where using -1 as an invalid index isn't at all obvious. > This just sounds like whining to me. If you want to catch errors, use a > function that will raise an exception rather than relying on the > invalidity of the result. You always seem to look at such things in a very narrow scope. You never seem to consider that various parts of a program have to work together. So what happens if you have a module that is collecting string-index pair, colleted from various other parts. In one part you want to select the last letter, so you pythonically choose -1 as index. In an other part you get a result of find and are happy with -1 as an indictation for an invalid index. Then these data meet. -- Antoon Pardon -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
