good catch, and definitely a distinction beginners should be more cognizant of.
it's also good to recognize that a call to "bool(match)" would render that statement correct, as the built-in/factory function will return what an object evaluates to (True [re.match object] or/vs.False [None]). On Mon, Nov 10, 2014 at 5:31 PM, Clayton Kirkwood <c...@godblessthe.us> wrote: > I reported it. I feel all grown up now. Kind of like one of the > boys(girls...) > > Clayton:<) > > > >-----Original Message----- > >From: Tutor [mailto:tutor-bounces+crk=godblessthe...@python.org] On > >Behalf Of Ben Finney > >Sent: Monday, November 10, 2014 3:24 PM > >To: tutor@python.org > >Subject: [Tutor] “has a value of True” versus “evaluates true” (was: > >don't understand iteration) > > > >"Clayton Kirkwood" <c...@godblessthe.us> writes: > > > >> Also of confusion, the library reference says: > >> > >> Match objects always have a boolean value of True. Since match() and > >> search() return None when there is no match, you can test whether > >> there was a match with a simple if statement: > >> > >> match = re.search(pattern, string) > >> if match: > >> process(match) > > > >The documentation is incorrect, as you point out: “have a boolean value > >of True” implies that the value is identical to the built-in ‘True’ > >constant, which is never the case for these objects. > > > >Instead, the passage above should say “evaluates true in a boolean > >context”. > > > >Would you be so kind as to report a bug to that effect > ><URL:http://bugs.python.org/>? > > > >-- > > \ “The Vatican is not a state.… a state must have people. There | > > `\ are no Vaticanians.… No-one gets born in the Vatican except by | > >_o__) an unfortunate accident.” —Geoffrey Robertson, 2010-09-18 | > >Ben Finney > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org > >To unsubscribe or change subscription options: > >https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor > > > _______________________________________________ > Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org > To unsubscribe or change subscription options: > https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor > -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "A computer never does what you want... only what you tell it." +wesley chun <http://google.com/+WesleyChun> : wescpy at gmail : @wescpy <http://twitter.com/wescpy> Python training & consulting : http://CyberwebConsulting.com "Core Python" books : http://CorePython.com Python blog: http://wescpy.blogspot.com
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