[Python-Dev] Equality testing (original) (raw)

Terry Reedy tjreedy at udel.edu
Wed May 18 23:01:28 CEST 2011

On 5/18/2011 2:51 PM, Ethan Furman wrote:

In Python 3 inequality comparisons became forbidden.

--> 123 < [1, 2, 3]_ _Traceback (most recent call last):_ _File "", line 1, in TypeError: unorderable types: int() < list()_ _However, equality comparisons are still allowed_ _--> 123 == [1, 2, 3] False But you can't mix them (inequality wins) --> 123 <= [1, 2, 3]_ _Traceback (most recent call last):_ _File "", line 1, in TypeError: unorderable types: int() <= list() I realize this is probably a Py4000 change if it happens at all, but does this make sense? Shouldn't an attempt to compare to unlike objects be a TypeError, just like trying to order them is? It bit me when I tried to compare a byte string element with a single character byte string (of course they should have matched, but since the element was an int, the match was not longer True).

Questions/comments like this that are not about developing the next versions of Python, as you acknowledge above, really belong elsewhere, like on the ideas list.

-- Terry Jan Reedy

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