Is this a contradiction in the docs ?

[Fuzzyman]

Pierre Barbier de Reuille wrote:
> Fuzzyman a écrit :
> > The following two passages from the python documentation *appear*
to
> > contradict each other. Equally possible (or more likely !) is that
I
> > misunderstand it :
> >
> > eval :
> > This function can also be used to execute arbitrary code objects
(such
> > as those created by compile()). In this case pass a code object
instead
> > of a string. The code object must have been compiled passing 'eval'
as
> > the kind argument.
> >
> >
> > compile:
> > The kind argument specifies what kind of code must be compiled; it
can
> > be 'exec' if string consists of a sequence of statements, 'eval' if
it
> > consists of a single expression, or 'single' if it consists of a
single
> > interactive statement (in the latter case, expression statements
that
> > evaluate to something else than None will be printed).
> >
> > The docs for compile say that if you are creating a code object
from a
> > sequence of statements you must use the kind argument 'exec'. Eval
says
> > that if you are using the eval function you must use 'eval' as your
> > kind argument.
> >
> > In practise I have found that using the eval function with code
objects
> > compiled with 'exec' as the kind argument works fine. Is this a
'bug'
> > in the docs ?
> > Regards,
> >
> > Fuzzy
> > http://www.voidspace.org.uk/python/index.shtml
> >
>
> IMO, it's just logical the code sent to "eval" was compiled with
"eval"
> as the kind argument. But don't forget the documentation is kind of
> "abstract" and that CPython is _just_ an implementation (ok, it's the

> reference implementation) of python. You'd better follow the doc if
you
> want your code to work on other Python implementation (ie. JPython,
...).
>

Yes.. but that would mean that eval could only run code objects that
"consist[s] of a single expression".. which I doubt is the reality or
the intention.

Regards,
Fuzzyman
http://www.voidspace.org.uk/python/index.shtml



> Pierre