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Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2012 11:51:13 +1000
Subject: Re: Implicit conversion to boolean in if and while statements
From: Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com>
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Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.python:25378

On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 11:21 AM, Ranting Rick
<rantingrickjohnson@gmail.com> wrote:
> If HOWEVER we want to "truth test" an object (as in: "if obj") we
> should be FORCED to use the bool! Why? Because explicit is better than
> implicit and readability counts if we want to create maintainable code
> bases!
>
> if bool(obj) and a==b: # Correct!
> if obj and a==b:       # Incorrect!

That still doesn't answer the question of what bool(obj) should do if
obj is not a bool, and why if can't do the exact same thing, since if,
by definition, is looking for a boolean state selector.

ChrisA