> That's very clear. Thanks, Wesley. > And if you wanted to know which is smaller, x or y: > > x = 8**9 > y = 9**8 > smaller = "x" if x < y else "y" > print smaller, "is smaller" > > I think I'm getting the hang of it!
your example is correct. if you had a background in C programming, you would recognize the syntax of the "ternary operator:" smaller = x < y ? x : y guido chose Python's syntax... smaller = x if x < y else y ... because "smaller = x" would be the typical case (the conditional expression usually should evaluate to True), and evaluation to False is a special (or inoften) case. if this is true, then the syntax is easier to follow this way. there is some explanation of this in the PEP and CLP threads. > BTW I'm told your book will arrive on my front porch in a couple of > days. I'm looking forward to it! (<http://tinyurl.com/f22uu>) sigh... i still haven't gotten mine from the publisher yet. i think you'll get yours before i get mine!!! cheers, -- wesley - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Core Python Programming", Prentice Hall, (c)2007,2001 http://corepython.com wesley.j.chun :: wescpy-at-gmail.com python training and technical consulting cyberweb.consulting : silicon valley, ca http://cyberwebconsulting.com _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - [email protected] http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
