[Python-Dev] Re: PEP 285: Adding a bool type

[Fredrik Lundh]

Andrew Koenig wrote:

> On the other hand, the library isn't nearly so consistent.  Just for
> fun, I started browsing the library documentation at random.
> 
> The very first page I visited was the description of gc, the
> garbage collector interface.  The first function that returns
> a truth value there is described as
> 
>         isenabled()
>             Returns true if automatic collection is enabled.

>>> import gc
>>> gc.isenabled()
1
>>> type(gc.isenabled())
<type 'int'>

>         endswith(suffix[,start[,end]])
>             Return true if the string ends with the specified suffix,
>             otherwise return false.

>>> "spam".endswith("m")
1
>>> type("spam".endswith("m"))
<type 'int'>

>         isatty()
>             Return true if the file is connected to a tty(-like) device,
>             else false.

>>> sys.stdout.isatty()
1
>>> type(sys.stdout.isatty())
<type 'int'>

>         exists(path)
>             Return true if path refers to an existing path.

>>> os.path.exists("/etc/passwd")
1
>>> type(os.path.exists("/etc/passwd"))
<type 'int'>

looks pretty consistent to me ;-)

(Python docs tend to use "true" to mean anything which isn't "false", and
where operator.truth returns the right thing.  this won't change post-PEP
-- if you start interpreting "return true" as "return True", you'll be asking
for trouble)

</F>