Py2.3: Feedback on Sets

[Andrew Dalke]

Gary Feldman:
> Also, I'd like to see "iterable must be <some type spec>",
> though this is a general flaw in the Python doc and is perhaps
> biased by my C/C++ background where you'd never dream
> of doing a reference manual without explicitly indicating the
> types of every parameter.

Python uses what is sometimes called "duck typing" (meaning,
if it quacks like a duck...).  Lots of objects are iterable - strings,
lists, sets, dict (keys), and user-defined classes.  Since you
prefer C++, think of Python more akin to templates.  Templates
expect the objects templated on to have certain properties (can
be "+"ed, can be deferenced, has a method named "xyz") and
not that they have given types.

> Personally, I have hard time imagining where I'd want
> [remove].  If I really cared, I could check beforehand, so I think
> I'd just always use discard.

I'm the other way around.  I find it hard to imagine where
I would call discard.  If I want to remove an element from a
set then I want to know right away if that element isn't there.
It's been handy for tracking down bugs in my code.

> 5.12.2
>   engineering_management = engineers & programmers

Actually, I don't like that example because there is too
much text to read through to see the actual symbols used.

> PS I suppose I should mention my strongest pet peeve
> with the Python documentation, which is the practice of
> putting the member functions on a different page than
> the class overview.  But that's not your issue, either.

And I confess that I like to see everything on one page
and not split up between several pages.  That way I can
use my browser's search facility.

                    Andrew
                    dalke at dalkescientific.com