python list index - an easy question

[Ben Bacarisse]

BartC <bc at freeuk.com> writes:

> On 18/12/2016 10:59, Paul Götze wrote:
>> there is a nice short article by E. W. Dijkstra about why it makes sense
>> to start numbering at zero (and exclude the upper given bound) while
>> slicing a list. Might give a bit of additional understanding.
>>
>> http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/ewd08xx/EWD831.PDF
>
> (This from somebody who apparently can't use a typewriter?!)
>
> I don't know if the arguments there are that convincing. Both lower
> bounds of 0 and 1 are useful; some languages will use 0, some 1, and
> some can have any lower bound.
>
> But a strong argument for using 1 is that in real life things are
> usually counted from 1 (and measured from 0).

The index of an element is a measure, not a count.

<snip>
-- 
Ben.