beginner, idiomatic python

[Neil Cerutti]

On 2007-08-27, bambam <david at asdf.asdf> wrote:
> Thank you, I have been through the tutorial several times, I
> guess I'm just not smart enough. Perhaps I have been led astray
> by what I read here?
>
> My code started like this:
>
> for i in range(self.parent.GetPageCount()):
>
> I was asked:
>
>> Does page count change? i.e. is it necessary to retrieve it in
>> every loop
>
> Is self.parent.GetPageCount() 'retrieved every loop'?

No. The question seems to imply that if you wish it to be
retrieved every loop you must change the code to something else.

i = 0
while i < self.parent.GetPageCount():
  # do stuff
  i += 1

I find that kind of while loop clunky. Since Python is
hard-headed about not providing a structured looping construct,
you may feel the need to compose your own special-purpose
iterator or generator instead.

def pageCountGenerator(document):
  i = 0
  while i < document.GetPageCount():
    yield i
    i += 1

It can be used like this:

for i in pageCountGenerator(self.parent):
  # do stuff

That way you get the happy syntax of a for loop, with the
additional safety of checking the page count each iteration.

This sort of suggests a direct solution:

for i in xrange(self.parent.GetPageCount()):
  if i >= self.parent.GetPageCount():
    break
  # do stuff

At least that way you're spared the manual manipulation of i.

-- 
Neil Cerutti