what's this instance?

[Bruno Desthuilliers]

J. Peng a écrit :
> def safe_float(object):
>   try:
>     retval = float(object)
>   except (ValueError, TypeError), oops:
>     retval = str(oops)
>   return retval

> The code above works well.

For which definition of "works well" ?

This function is really ill-named - it returns either a float or a
string, so it is definitively not safe :

def dosomething(x):
  return x + (x / 0.5)

x=safe_float([1,2,3,4])
// a dozen line of code here
y = dosomething(x)

And now, have fun trying to trace the real problem... Better to not use
this function at all IMHO - at least, you'll get a meaningfull traceback.

> But what's the instance of "oops"? where is it
> coming from? I'm totally confused on it.thanks.

cf other answers on this.