[Python-Dev] (#19562) Asserts in Python stdlib code (datetime.py)

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Sat, Nov 16, 2013 at 04:46:00PM +0100, Antoine Pitrou wrote:

> I agree that conflating the two doesn't help the discussion.
> While removing docstrings may be beneficial on memory-constrained
> devices, I can't remember a single situation where I've wanted to
> remove asserts on a production system.
> 
> (I also tend to write less and less asserts in production code, since
> all of them tend to go in unit tests instead, with the help of e.g.
> mock objects)

I'm the opposite. I like using asserts in my code, and while I don't 
*typically* run it with -O, I do think it is valuable to have to 
opportunity to remove asserts. I've certainly written code where -O has 
given a major micro-optimization of individual functions (anything up to 
50% speedup). I've never measured if that lead to a significant 
whole-application speedup, but I assume that was some benefit. (I know, 
premature optimization and all that...)


-- 
Steven