[Python-ideas] Please reconsider the Boolean evaluation of midnight

Stephen J. Turnbull stephen at xemacs.org
Thu Mar 6 13:18:26 CET 2014


Ryan Hiebert writes:

 > he'd just like to see Python be better.

We all agree that we'd like Python to be better.  But many of us feel
that the proposed change does not make Python better.

It merely makes it more comfortable for what we (many of us, anyway)
consider to be badly written code, and encourages people to write more
code in poor style as we see it.

 > it seems that we are disagreeing on whether this strange behavior
 > should ever change.

Well, yes, for Python 2 (obviously) and Python 3.  I don't think
anybody would object to changing it in Python 4.  (Honestly, I would,
on the principle above -- it really is only useful if you want to
write code in bad style -- but it doesn't take a French soldier on the
parapet to let you know in which general direction the wind blows.)

 > I think that, at some point, it should. If we ever agree on that,
 > then we can start thinking about when.

I really don't think you'll achieve consensus before we start
discussing Python 4 seriously.  That's when the hunting season on
backward incompatible changes (that don't correct showstoppers) opens.



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