in place functions from operator module

[Peter Otten]

ernest wrote:

> The operator module provides separate functions for
> "in place" operations, such as iadd(), isub(), etc.
> However, it appears that these functions don't really
> do the operation in place:
> 
> In [34]: a = 4
> 
> In [35]: operator.iadd(a, 3)
> Out[35]: 7
> 
> In [36]: a
> Out[36]: 4
> 
> So, what's the point? If you have to make the
> assignment yourself... I don't understand.

Integers are immutable, and for instances a of immutable types

a += b

is equivalent to

a = a + b

For mutable types like list add() and iadd() may differ:

>>> a = ["first"]
>>> operator.iadd(a, [42])
['first', 42]
>>> a
['first', 42]

>>> a = ["first"]
>>> operator.add(a, [42])
['first', 42]
>>> a
['first']

Peter