inline comparison

[Peter Hansen]

sam wrote:
> I got the the following syntax error in comparison:
>   File "/usr/local/work/myparser.py", line 85
>     if ( (m=self.macro_parser.match (d)) != None ):
>            ^
> SyntaxError: invalid syntax
> 
> How can I get around wtih this? 

Break the comparison into two steps.

 > I don't want to break down this comparison in two steps.

Why not?  Assignments are statements in Python, and
you can't have a statement inside an expression like
you are trying to do.  C can do it, and many other
languages, but not all, and not Python.  There are
alternatives involving creating your own class, but
why bother?  Just split the code...

-Peter