[issue1533] Bug in range() function for large values

[Mark Dickinson]

Mark Dickinson <dickinsm at gmail.com> added the comment:

Currently, in trunk, I get:

>>> range(0.0, 11.0, 1.1)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: range() integer start argument expected, got float.

But with Alexander's patch on trunk, I get:

>>> range(0.0, 11.0, 1.1)
[0L, 1L, 2L, 3L, 4L, 5L, 6L, 7L, 8L, 9L, 10L]

I'm not sure whether this is intentional or not, but IIRC it was a very deliberate choice not to allow float arguments to range (especially when, as here, the arguments are simply being truncated).  I don't think this is an acceptable change for 2.7 (still less for 2.6).

Any patch for this issue should not change the behaviour for small arguments.

IMO, the *right* solution is to convert arguments via __index__ when possible (as 3.x appears to already do).  However, this would be a new feature.  I suggest closing this as a 'won't fix'.

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stage:  -> unit test needed

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<http://bugs.python.org/issue1533>
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