Thanks Chris! At least my code isn't (quite!) as bad as the xkcd example :)
Guess my "concern" is using the initialized array in the function: def myfunct(a, b, c=array[0,1,2,3] ) always feels like an abuse. Has anyone seriously considered implementing a true static variable in a function? Is there a PEP? Best, On Sun, Apr 26, 2020 at 8:47 PM Chris Angelico <ros...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 1:39 PM Bob van der Poel <b...@mellowood.ca> wrote: > > > > Does this make as much sense as anything else? I need to track calls to a > > function to make sure it doesn't get called to too great a depth. I had a > > global which I inc/dec and then check in the function. Works fine, but I > do > > need to keep a global around just for this. > > > > So ... instead I wrote a short function: > > > > def parseStack(inc, depth=[0]): > > if depth[0] > 50: > > ... report error and die nicely > > depth[0] += inc > > > > This gets rid of the global, and it moves my error check out of the main > > code as well. But, I never feel all that great about using a list in the > > function call for static storage. > > That's not really any different from a global. If globals bother you, > this should as well. But it's also reasonable to NOT be bothered by it > - it's not that big a problem. > > If this is directly recursive (if there's a call to parseStack inside > parseStack itself, as opposed to being mutually recursive with one or > more other functions), the easiest way to avoid the global is to just > pass the parameter down - something like this: > > def spaminate(x, y, depth=0): > ... > spaminate(newx, newy, depth+1) > ... > > But that can be harder if you have other things happening, eg if your > function calls something else, which calls something else, which calls > your function again. If it's that complex, I would just accept the > global, honestly - globals (module-level variables) aren't the worst > thing that can happen. You won't end up with code reviews like > https://xkcd.com/1513/ just because of one global (or if you do, you > REALLY need to find better code reviewers!). > > ChrisA > -- > https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list > -- **** Listen to my FREE CD at http://www.mellowood.ca/music/cedars **** Bob van der Poel ** Wynndel, British Columbia, CANADA ** EMAIL: b...@mellowood.ca WWW: http://www.mellowood.ca -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
