str.isspace()

[forman.simon at gmail.com]

bearophileHUGS at lycos.com wrote:
> Are you using the str.isspace() method? I don't use it, so if most
> people don't uses it, then it may be removed from Py 3.0.
>
> I usually need to know if a string contains some non-spaces (not space
> class chars). To do it I use something like:
>
> if aline.strip(): ...
>
> If you really need str.isspace() you may use (but so far I have never
> had to do this):
>
> if txt and not txt.strip(): ...
>
> Bye,
> bearophile

A quick check of code in my homedir showed that I've used it about 60
times (that's just in my own code, not work related code.)

In favor of removing it:
 * TOOWTDI

In favor of keeping it:

 * isspace() returns a Boolean, strip() returns a (newly-allocated)
string that's then just thrown away.

 * it's more obvious, "is space?" is exactly what I'm thinking when I
reach for isspace(),  it's never occurred to me to use strip() for this
task.  Compare:
    if offset >= len(line) or line[offset].isspace():
    if offset >= len(line) or line[offset].strip():

 * it's "symetrical" with the rest of the isfoo() string methods.
IMHO, it would be odd if it wasn't there.

My $0.02


Peace,
~Simon