[Python-Dev] [Python-checkins] peps: Pre-alpha draft for PEP 435 (enum). The name is not important at the moment, as

[Antoine Pitrou]

On Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:03:06 -0800
Eli Bendersky <eliben at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> "DOG" > "CAT" invokes lexicographical comparison between two strings, a
> well-defined and sensical operations. It simply means that in a sorted list
> of strings, "CAT" will come before "DOG". This is different from an
> enumeration that attempts to (at least logically) restrict a value to a set
> of pre-defined entities.

No, it's not different. Like there are use cases for ordered
comparisons of strings, there are cases for ordered comparisons of
enums.
For example, if I have an enum representing SIP or HTTP response codes,
it is perfectly reasonable to write:

    if code < 200:
        # temporary response
        ...
    elif code < 400:
        # successful final response
        ...
    else:
        # final error response:
        ...

Really, there's no justification for claiming an enum should never
compare to anything else. It's entirely application-dependent.

Regards

Antoine.