April 3, 2002
2:53 p.m.
Guido van Rossum wrote:
False and True are numbers [...]
That's exactly where this falls down. Patrick O'Brien wrote:
[...] True and False could be dictionary keys separate from 0 and 1.
Guido van Rossum wrote:
No. That would break backwards compatibility. False==0, and True==1; everything else follows from that. (But False is not 0, and True is not 1!)
This is a strange distinction to make -- one that is not made in any other programming language i have ever encountered. Of course *i* get it and *you* get it -- but it will be so hard to teach this particular weirdness that i consider it fatal to the proposal. -- ?!ng