checking if two things do not equal None

[Roy Smith]

In article <lh7cb4$ntu$2 at news.albasani.net>,
 Johannes Bauer <dfnsonfsduifb at gmx.de> wrote:

> On 29.03.2014 20:05, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> > On Sat, 29 Mar 2014 11:56:50 -0700, contact.trigon wrote:
> > 
> >> if (a, b) != (None, None):
> >> or
> >> if a != None != b:
> >>
> >> Preference? Pros? Cons? Alternatives?
> >
> > if not (a is b is None): ...
> > 
> > Or if you prefer:
> > 
> > if a is not b is not None: ...
> 
> Is this an obfuscated coding contest? Why do you opt for a solution that
> one has to at least think 2 seconds about when the simplest solution:
> 
> if (a is not None) or (b is not None):
> 
> is immediately understandable by everyone?

I agree with that.  But

> if (a, b) != (None, None):

seems pretty straight-forward to me too.  In fact, if anything, it seems 
easier to understand than

> if (a is not None) or (b is not None):

I certainly agree that things like

> if a is not b is not None: ...

belong in an obfuscated coding contest.  Code gets read a lot more often 
than it get written.  Make it dead-ass simple to understand, and future 
generations of programmers who inherit your code will thank you for it.