Iterating over a binary file

[Ville Vainio]

Paul Rubin <http://phr.cx@NOSPAM.invalid> writes:

> > The above code works, but I don't like making two read() calls.  Any
> > way to avoid it, or a more elegant syntax?  Thanks.
> 
> You can make it even uglier:
> 
>     f = file(filename, 'rb')
>     while 1:
>       data = f.read(1024)
>       if len(data) <= 0:
>         break
>       someobj.update(data)
>     f.close()
> 
> There's been proposals around to add an assignment-expression operator
> like in C, so you could say something like
> 
>     f = file(filename, 'rb')
>     while len(data := f.read(1024)) > 0:
>       someobj.update(data)
>     f.close()

It's funny, but I find the first version much more readable than the
second one. Especially if I consciously forget the "do lots of stuff
in condition part of while" indoctrination from C. If there is lots of
stuff in while you have to stare at it a bit more, and it becomes
"idiomatic", something you learn, perhaps even cookbook stuff, instead
of obvious-as-such.

> but that's the subject of holy war around here too many times ;-).  Don't
> hold your breath waiting for it.

Probably true. Instead of ":=", I wouldn't mind getting rid of
expressions/statements difference as a whole.

-- 
Ville Vainio   http://www.students.tut.fi/~vainio24