Paul Rubin wrote: > Tom Anderson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > >>>listx/dictx/setx would be the display forms as well as the constructor forms. >> >>Could these even replace the current forms? If you want the equivalent >>of list(sometuple), write list(*sometuple). > > > The current list function is supposed to be something like a typecast: > list() isn't a function, it's a type.
>>> type(list) <type 'type'> I'm not happy about the way the documentation represents types as functions, as this obscures the whole essence of Python's object orientation. > list() = [] > xlist() = [] # ok > > list(list()) = [] # casting a list to a list does nothing > xlist(xlist()) = [[]] # make a new list, not the same > > list(xrange(4)) = [0,1,2,3] > xlist(xrange(4)) = [xrange(4)] # not the same > > list((1,2)) = [1,2] > xlist((1,2)) = [(1,2)] > > etc. I presume that here "=" means "evaluates to"? 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
