[Python-Dev] Re: PEP 276 (simple iterator for ints)
Nick Coghlan
ncoghlan at iinet.net.au
Wed Jun 30 14:02:59 EDT 2004
(Accidentally sent this just to David instead of py-dev. Although Andrew
has since clarified that the Set constructor actually accepts an
iterable directly. And in that case, his magic would probably work
_regardless_ of how PEP-276 was implemented behind the scenes. Something
about this aspect of the PEP doesn't sit well with me. . .)
David Abrahams wrote:
> "Andrew Koenig" <ark at acm.org> writes:
>
>
>>I happened to look at PEP 276 and was struck by the thought that PEP 276 is
>>really an implementation of the well-known set-theoretic construction of the
>>natural numbers that defines each natural number as the set of all smaller
>>ones. In other words, it defines 0 as the empty set, 1 as the set whose
>>only element is 0, 2 as the set whose elements are 0 and 1, and so on.
>>
>>Indeed, under PEP 276, sets.Set(42) would be a set with 42 elements that
>>would be exactly the canonical representation of 42.
>
>
> ?? Simple Iterator For Ints ??
> http://www.python.org/peps/pep-0276.html
> Are you sure you mean 276?
>
I think he does.
Although I think to get the set Andrew wanted with an int type sporting
an __iter__ method, you would need to write sets.Set(*42), rather than
just writing '42' on its own.
Which actually suggests strongly to me that if PEP-276 were to be
implemented, it should be done by special casing ints in for-loop
generation rather than by having ints support the iterator protocol. Far
too much potential for cryptic usage of the latter approach!
And you could still get the set-theoretic representation using a
generator expression: sets.Set(x for x in 42)
Cheers.
Nick.
--
Nick Coghlan | Brisbane, Australia
Email: ncoghlan at email.com | Mobile: +61 409 573 268
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