python language: infimum and supremum of integers

[Erik Max Francis]

Grégoire Dooms wrote:

> I need a lower and higher integer for initializing lower and higher
> bounds in an algorithm.  I know integers have no limits(maximum and
> minimum) in python and infimum and supremum would do the job too.

Well, to start with, there's sys.maxint.  If you know you're dealing
with 2's complement integers, then minint would be -sys.maxint - 1.

> I empirically discovered (Python 2.2.2) that None could be considered
> an
> infimum and any string could be considered a supremum.
> e.g "a">int(x) is always true and None<int(x) is always false
> 
> But this fact is not stated in the language reference.

The language says that the ordering between objects of (some) different
types will be consistent in an implementation, but will be no be
guaranteed from implementation to implementation.  So in your
implementation, None might be less than all integers, but in another
implementation it might not be.

The best solution to your problem is probably what Alex suggested; make
a set of custom types that always compares less (or greater) than any
other object, and use that as your sentinel.

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