while (a=b()) ... infinite sets digression

[Tim Peters]

[Gordon]
> : ...
> : Instead of the integers, take the numbers between 0 and 1. Use your
> : mapping. Now realize that most of the numbers you've created are
> : transcendentals, and the rationals, by comparison, amount to a hill
> : of beans. So it _is_ a denser form of infinity than the integers.

[Graham]
> I am not sure I understand this. Surely the set of strings on a finite
> alphabet is countable. ...

But strings need not be finite, depending on how you define your terms.

They're talking about infinite strings, drawn from a finite alphabet --
although the conclusion would be the same if it were about infinite strings
from an alphabet with any cardinality <= the cardinality of the reals.

Now that the next two generalizations are out of the way <wink>, we can talk
about how to support uncountable alphabets and infinite strings in
Python2 -- I have it on good authority that the Perl camp hasn't even begun
to address this!

an-aleph-leap-over-old-fashioned-unicode-ly y'rs  - tim