Things I didn't know about Python, part 1

My favourite scripting language by far is Python. I’m always finding cool things in the language that I didn’t know were there. Even though I’ve been writing scripts in it for years, today I discovered that you can use maths-style ranges in comparisons.

Whereas in most languages to check a value x is within a range (say, 5 or more but less than 20), you might do:

// In C:
if (x >= 5 && x < 20) { ... code ... }

# In Python (without using the cool thing)
if x >= 5 and x < 20: # code

In Python, you can write the more mathsy:

if 5 <= x < 20: # code

Just a little thing I never realised.

Filed under: Coding
Posted at 12:40:00 GMT on 30th October 2007.

About Matt Godbolt

Matt Godbolt is a C++ developer working in Chicago for Aquatic. Follow him on Mastodon.