Re: [Python-ideas] Programming recommendations (PEP 8) and boolean values

Yuval Greenfield writes:

In python 3.2.3:

>>> 1 == True
True

• ...

  ...

  ...

  13 == True*

• False*
  ...

  ...

  ...

  bool(1)

  True
  ...

  ...

  ...

  bool(13)

  True
  ...

  ...

  ...

  1 is True

  False
  ...

  ...

  ...

  13 is True

  False

To my surprise identity is actually less confusing than equality. So I agree with Antoine and Michael on that point.

FWIW, I don't find any of the above confusing. "1 == True" => True is unexpected in some sense, but I don't find it counter-intuitive, and I find the "don't break old code" rationale satisfactory.

Inada-san's example of addition is a little disconcerting in that particular spelling. But

sum(predicate(x) for x in seq)

seems preferable to a boolean-specific count function, and it generalizes nicely to the creation of dummy variables in statistical applications.

Steve