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

[M.-A. Lemburg]

Guido van Rossum wrote:
> 
> > >             def __repr__(self):
> > >                 if self:
> > >                     return "True"
> > >                 else:
> > >                     return "False"
> > >
> > >             __str__ = __repr__
> >
> > I don't like this: it will break too much code since there
> > are already two singletons Py_True and Py_False available
> > in Python and these return 1 / 0 resp.
> 
> But this is the whole point of introducing a new type rather than
> simply defining True as 1 and False as 0!

That's not how I read it: making bool a type would allow type
checks to be done and this is a *much* more important feature
to have than some different str(obj) output.

There are many situations when doing RPC or interfacing with
other systems such as databases where a type check for
booleans is needed.

Currently, this can be done by simply using the already
existing Py_True and Py_False which are exposed at
Python level through (1==1) and (1==0) and we should not
break this scheme. '%s' % True must continue to
deliver '0' otherwise you'll end up breaking interfaces
which rely on this (such as database modules).

There's also another issue here: "True" and "False"
are English words, "0" and "1" are language neutral.

-- 
Marc-Andre Lemburg
CEO eGenix.com Software GmbH
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