any(), all() and empty iterable

[Dale Roberts]

On Apr 14, 8:33 am, Tim Chase <python.l... at tim.thechases.com> wrote:
> ...
> I still prefer "Return False if any element of the iterable is
> not true" or "Return False if any element in the iterable is
> false" because that describes exactly what the algorithm does.

I agree that the original doc comment is not helpful as it stands
(even though the behavior of any() is of course correct!), and prefer
Tim's alternative. Since Python is used by programmers (hopefully!),
the doc comment should be directed toward that audience. It should be
unambiguous, and should not assume everyone has perfect knowledge of
mathematical logic operations, or that Python necessarily follows the
rules that a logician would expect (take the varying behavior of
"modulo" operators in various languages as an example).

Pure logic aside, if I was presented with the original comment
('Return True if all elements of the iterable are true.') as a
specification, as a programmer I would immediately have to ask what to
do in the case of an empty list. It might be that the user hadn't
thought about it, or would want to throw an exception, or return
False.

The doc should speak to the intended audience: programmers, who like
to make sure all bases and cases are covered.

dale