[docs] [issue23787] sum() function docstring lists arguments incorrectly

[Valentine Sinitsyn]

New submission from Valentine Sinitsyn:

sum() function doctstring describes expected arguments as follows (Python 2.7.6):

sum(...)
    sum(sequence[, start]) -> value
...

This implies sum() should accept str, unicode, list, tuple, bytearray, buffer, and xrange. However, you clearly can't use this function to sum strings (which is also mentioned in the docstring):

>>> sum('abc')
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for +: 'int' and 'str'

I'd suggest to describe first argument as iterable, which is actually what sum() expects there.

----------
assignee: docs at python
components: Documentation
messages: 239388
nosy: docs at python, vsinitsyn
priority: normal
severity: normal
status: open
title: sum() function docstring lists arguments incorrectly
type: enhancement
versions: Python 2.7

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Python tracker <report at bugs.python.org>
<http://bugs.python.org/issue23787>
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