[Python-Dev] Re: PEP 285: Adding a bool type

[Guido van Rossum]

[MAL]
> > > Right, but my point is that if you want to make booleans first class
> > > objects in Python, you should consider making them behave as defined
> > > in the text books rather than trying to make them feel like integers
> > > but look like truth values.

[me]
> > I reject this reasoning.  Python is not trying to follow the text
> > books.  (In fact, maybe I should say "Python is trying not to follow
> > the text books.")

[MAL]
> Uhm, I can't follow you here -- which text books you are talking about 
> here (Python has always tried to conform to standards in most areas). 

The textbooks that say that a Boolean value does not support
arithmetic operations.  In tis discussion several people have tried to
argue for such bools and claimed that that is the textbook definition.

> FWIW, I was talking about the text books students use to learn boolean 
> algebra.

I don't think Boolean algebra is a big subject.  I bet that most
people only learn about it explicitly when they learn computer
programming.

> BTW, I wonder why you didn't follow up on my other comments...

This thread is way too long to comment on everything.  I probably felt
that I'd already responded to the same issue in a different message.

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)