[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I understand this, Steve. > I thought the _cmp_ method was a helper for sorting purposes. Why is it > that a membership test needs to call the __cmp__ method?
Can you suggest another way to test for set membership, given that instances aren't singletons? The only way to do so is to iterate over the list, asking "are these the same instance", followed (in the case of a "no" answer) by "are these two instances equal?". Consider: >>> a = {1:'one'} >>> b = {2:'two'} >>> c = {1:'one'} >>> a is c False >>> a in [b, c] True >>> What would you have Python do differently in these circumstances? > If this isn't a bug, it is at least unexpected in my eyes. Ah, right. So it's your eyes that need fixing! :-) > Maybe a candidate for inclusion in the FAQ? > Thank you for answering A pleasure. regards Steve -- Steve Holden +44 150 684 7255 +1 800 494 3119 Holden Web LLC www.holdenweb.com PyCon TX 2006 www.python.org/pycon/ -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list