On 2014-10-27 00:38, Ben Finney wrote:
Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.pyt...@pearwood.info> writes:
Do you really not see the connection between counting and summing?
Connection? Of course. But I also see a huge distinction. I'm surprised
you could misunderstand my position to the extent you think such a
question needs to be asked.
The difference between “sum these values” versus “count these values” is
important. That's at the root of why I find it confusingly wrong to sum
True or False values.
Do you really not see the distinction between counting and summing?
The question is just as silly that way.
If you have three apples, and I have two apples, then in total we have
(count the apples: one two three, four five) five apples.
If you have three apples in one basket, and I have two apples in one
basket, “sum the baskets” is quite a different operation from “count the
baskets”.
[3, 2]
What is the sum of those values?
How many values are there?
Those are ints. The question is whether you can sum bools.
Python's way is to say that it's counting how many True there are.
Sometimes it's useful; pragmatism beats purity, and all that.
The distinction between those is why I find it unhelpful to express “how
many values?” with “sum them”.
Alas, you missed the bigger bug: I'm counting *blank lines*, not
non-blank lines. You need a `not` in there.
Which is, shall we say, not incompatible with the position that the
“count the matches by summing bools” method is an unclear expression of
intent :-)
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