integer and string compare, is that correct?

[Nobody]

On Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:13:55 -0800, Dan Bishop wrote:

>> If you actually need to perform comparisons across types, you can rely
>> upon the fact that tuple comparisons are non-strict and use e.g.:
>>
>>         > a = 5
>>         > b = '5'
>>         > (type(a).__name__, a) < (type(b).__name__, b)
>>         True
>>         > (type(a).__name__, a) > (type(b).__name__, b)
>>         False
>>
>> The second elements will only be compared if the first elements are equal
>> (i.e. the values have the same type).
> 
> But this method gives you 3.0 < 2 because 'float' < 'int'.  Probably
> not what you want.

If you're comparing instances of entirely arbitrary types, what
you probably want (and the only thing you're going to get) is an
entirely arbitrary ordering.

The main case where such a comparison makes sense is for algorithms which
require a total ordering (e.g. tree-like structures), and those won't care
if 3<2 so long as the axioms for a total ordering hold.