[Python-Dev] str with base (original) (raw)

Gareth McCaughan gmccaughan at synaptics-uk.com
Thu Jan 19 11:23:30 CET 2006

On Wednesday 2006-01-18 16:55, Steven Bethard wrote:

[Raymond] > Perhaps introduce a single function, base(val, radix=10, > prefix=''), as a universal base converter that could replace > bin(), hex(), oct(), etc.

+1 on introducing base()

Introducing a new builtin with a name that's a common, short English word is a bit disagreeable. The other thing about the name "base" is that it's not entirely obvious which way it converts: do you say

base(123,5)

to get a string representing 123 in base 5, or

base("123",5)

to get the integer whose base 5 representation is "123"? Well, one option would be to have both of those work :-). (Some people may need to do some deep breathing while reciting the mantra "practicality beats purity" in order to contemplate that with equanimity.)

Alternatively, a name like "to_base" that clarifies the intent and is less likely to clash with variable names might be an improvement.

Or there's always %b, whether that ends up standing for "binary" or "base". Or %b for binary and %r for radix, not forgetting the modifiers to get numbers formatted as Roman numerals.

-- Gareth McCaughan

More information about the Python-Dev mailing list