append on lists

[Lie]

On Sep 16, 3:20 pm, Armin <a... at nospam.org> wrote:
> John Machin wrote:
> > On Sep 16, 6:45 am, Armin <a... at nospam.org> wrote:
>
> >> Yes, but this is very unconvenient.
> >> If d should reference the list a extended with a single list element
> >> you need at least two lines
>
> >> a.append(7)
> >> d=a
>
> >> and not more intuitive d = a.append(7)
>
> > Methods/functions which return a value other than the formal None and
> > also mutate their environment are "a snare and a delusion". Don't wish
> > for them.
>
>    c = [9,10]
>    [1,2,3,4,7].append(c) -> Is this a valid expression?
>

Yes, that is a valid expression, however, the list you're appending to
is immediately discarded.

>    The 'value' of that expression is None.
>
>    However ... that's the way of the implementation of the append method.
>    It's a little bit confusing to me ...

actually, you could implement your own myList which returns a value on
append method:

class MyList(list):
    def append(self, item):
        list.append(self, item)
        return self
        # or
        # return self[:]
        # if you want it to return a copy

But I recommend against that.

> --Armin
>
> Thanks to all !
>
>
>
>
>
> > Inconvenient? How often do you want to mutate a list and then set up
> > another reference to it?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -