What are some other way to rewrite this if block?

[Jean-Michel Pichavant]

----- Original Message -----
> This simple script is about a public transport, here is the code:
> 
> def report_status(should_be_on, came_on):
>     if should_be_on < 0.0 or should_be_on > 24.0 or came_on < 0.0 or
> came_on > 24.0:
>         return 'time not in range'
>     elif should_be_on == came_on:
>         return 'on time'
>     elif should_be_on > came_on:
>         return 'early'
>     elif should_be_on < came_on:
>         return 'delayed'
>     else:
>         return 'something might be wrong'
> 
> print(report_status(123, 12.0))
> 
> I am looking forward of make the line starting with `if` short.
> 
> Any tips are welcome.
> --
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list

You can remove the 'if' line, report_status asks for hours, the caller is supposed to provide valid hours. What if the caller gives you strings, integer, floats ?  This is a never ending story.


def report_status(should_be_on, came_on):

    # well if you really really want to test it
    assert(all([int(arg) in range(0,24) for arg in (should_be_on, came_on)])) 

    return { 0 : 'on time', -1 : 'delayed', 1 : 'early'}[cmp(should_be_on, came_on)]


JM

Note : in my example, 24.0 is excluded from the valid durations but I think this is the correct behavior.


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