On Thu, Aug 10, 2017 at 09:39:02AM -0400, C W wrote: > What's a literal? The only other time I heard about it was studying > Shakespare. ;)
A "literal" is syntax that creates a value, without the programmer needing to call a function. The syntax stands for the LITERAL value as shown. For example, we write: number = 123 # stands for literally 123 rather than: number = int(hundreds=1, tens=2, units=3) Examples of literals: "Hello World!" # a string 1.234 # a float 999 # an int True # bool true value None # the special None value Technically, these aren't literals, but they're the moral equivalent of literals: [1, 2, None, "Hello", 23] # a list (1, 2, 3) # a tuple {'key': 'value'} # a dict > I don't know what literal is. So, it won't help me to understand ellipsis, > I really thought it was that oval shaped figure. Ellipsis \El*lip"sis\ ([e^]l*l[i^]p"s[i^]s), n.; pl. Ellipses (Gram.) Omission; a figure of syntax, by which one or more words, which are obviously understood, are omitted; as, the virtues I admire, for, the virtues which I admire. [1913 Webster] (Printing) a printing symbol, usually three periods in a row (. . .), indicating the omission of some part of a text; -- used commonly in quotations, so as to suppress words not essential to the meaning. A long dash (---) and three asterisks (* * *) are sometimes used with the same meaning. There's also an older (now obsolete) meaning of "ellipsis" as a synonym for "ellipse", which is an oval-shaped figure. > Wiki says: "Literals are often used to initialize variables" As in: n = 0 x = 1.5 Outside of numpy, I've never seen anyone use Ellipsis (whether spelled by name or by three dots) except to be cute. I'm sure it has use to some people, otherwise it wouldn't have been added, but its pretty specialized. -- Steve _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor