[Python-Dev] For review: PEP 285: Adding a bool type (original) (raw)

Samuele Pedroni pedroni@inf.ethz.ch
Fri, 8 Mar 2002 21:36:55 +0100

From: Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org>

> but that means that the situation for the > user will be ideally less muddy only when all > the code uses True/False everytime it makes sense, > and not 1/0.

Yes, it will take time before everything is converted. That's why we must be careful to decide if we really want this.

Yup, that's what I was thinking about. (Especially) During the conversion phase:

0 > 1 False import baz bar = baz.Baz() bar.isfoo() 1

will be really less puzzling than

0 > 1 0 import baz bar = baz.Baz() bar.isfoo() 1

Or given that the usual truth semantics is still there, is just the first output "cosmetically" better /purer, and not really conceptually easier (?). I have no strong feeling about this, just wondering.

regards.