| \section{Built-in Types \label{types}} |
| |
| The following sections describe the standard types that are built into |
| the interpreter. These are the numeric types, sequence types, and |
| several others, including types themselves. There is no explicit |
| Boolean type; use integers instead. |
| \indexii{built-in}{types} |
| \indexii{Boolean}{type} |
| |
| Some operations are supported by several object types; in particular, |
| all objects can be compared, tested for truth value, and converted to |
| a string (with the \code{`\textrm{\ldots}`} notation). The latter |
| conversion is implicitly used when an object is written by the |
| \keyword{print}\stindex{print} statement. |
| |
| |
| \subsection{Truth Value Testing \label{truth}} |
| |
| Any object can be tested for truth value, for use in an \keyword{if} or |
| \keyword{while} condition or as operand of the Boolean operations below. |
| The following values are considered false: |
| \stindex{if} |
| \stindex{while} |
| \indexii{truth}{value} |
| \indexii{Boolean}{operations} |
| \index{false} |
| |
| \begin{itemize} |
| |
| \item \code{None} |
| \withsubitem{(Built-in object)}{\ttindex{None}} |
| |
| \item zero of any numeric type, e.g., \code{0}, \code{0L}, \code{0.0}. |
| |
| \item any empty sequence, e.g., \code{''}, \code{()}, \code{[]}. |
| |
| \item any empty mapping, e.g., \code{\{\}}. |
| |
| \item instances of user-defined classes, if the class defines a |
| \method{__nonzero__()} or \method{__len__()} method, when that |
| method returns zero. |
| |
| \end{itemize} |
| |
| All other values are considered true --- so objects of many types are |
| always true. |
| \index{true} |
| |
| Operations and built-in functions that have a Boolean result always |
| return \code{0} for false and \code{1} for true, unless otherwise |
| stated. (Important exception: the Boolean operations |
| \samp{or}\opindex{or} and \samp{and}\opindex{and} always return one of |
| their operands.) |
| |
| |
| \subsection{Boolean Operations \label{boolean}} |
| |
| These are the Boolean operations, ordered by ascending priority: |
| \indexii{Boolean}{operations} |
| |
| \begin{tableiii}{c|l|c}{code}{Operation}{Result}{Notes} |
| \lineiii{\var{x} or \var{y}}{if \var{x} is false, then \var{y}, else \var{x}}{(1)} |
| \lineiii{\var{x} and \var{y}}{if \var{x} is false, then \var{x}, else \var{y}}{(1)} |
| \hline |
| \lineiii{not \var{x}}{if \var{x} is false, then \code{1}, else \code{0}}{(2)} |
| \end{tableiii} |
| \opindex{and} |
| \opindex{or} |
| \opindex{not} |
| |
| \noindent |
| Notes: |
| |
| \begin{description} |
| |
| \item[(1)] |
| These only evaluate their second argument if needed for their outcome. |
| |
| \item[(2)] |
| \samp{not} has a lower priority than non-Boolean operators, so e.g. |
| \code{not a == b} is interpreted as \code{not(a == b)}, and |
| \code{a == not b} is a syntax error. |
| |
| \end{description} |
| |
| |
| \subsection{Comparisons \label{comparisons}} |
| |
| Comparison operations are supported by all objects. They all have the |
| same priority (which is higher than that of the Boolean operations). |
| Comparisons can be chained arbitrarily, e.g. \code{x < y <= z} is |
| equivalent to \code{x < y and y <= z}, except that \code{y} is |
| evaluated only once (but in both cases \code{z} is not evaluated at |
| all when \code{x < y} is found to be false). |
| \indexii{chaining}{comparisons} |
| |
| This table summarizes the comparison operations: |
| |
| \begin{tableiii}{c|l|c}{code}{Operation}{Meaning}{Notes} |
| \lineiii{<}{strictly less than}{} |
| \lineiii{<=}{less than or equal}{} |
| \lineiii{>}{strictly greater than}{} |
| \lineiii{>=}{greater than or equal}{} |
| \lineiii{==}{equal}{} |
| \lineiii{<>}{not equal}{(1)} |
| \lineiii{!=}{not equal}{(1)} |
| \lineiii{is}{object identity}{} |
| \lineiii{is not}{negated object identity}{} |
| \end{tableiii} |
| \indexii{operator}{comparison} |
| \opindex{==} % XXX *All* others have funny characters < ! > |
| \opindex{is} |
| \opindex{is not} |
| |
| \noindent |
| Notes: |
| |
| \begin{description} |
| |
| \item[(1)] |
| \code{<>} and \code{!=} are alternate spellings for the same operator. |
| (I couldn't choose between \ABC{} and \C{}! :-) |
| \index{ABC language@\ABC{} language} |
| \index{language!ABC@\ABC{}} |
| \indexii{C@\C{}}{language} |
| |
| \end{description} |
| |
| Objects of different types, except different numeric types, never |
| compare equal; such objects are ordered consistently but arbitrarily |
| (so that sorting a heterogeneous array yields a consistent result). |
| Furthermore, some types (e.g., windows) support only a degenerate |
| notion of comparison where any two objects of that type are unequal. |
| Again, such objects are ordered arbitrarily but consistently. |
| \indexii{types}{numeric} |
| \indexii{objects}{comparing} |
| |
| (Implementation note: objects of different types except numbers are |
| ordered by their type names; objects of the same types that don't |
| support proper comparison are ordered by their address.) |
| |
| Two more operations with the same syntactic priority, \samp{in} and |
| \samp{not in}, are supported only by sequence types (below). |
| \opindex{in} |
| \opindex{not in} |
| |
| |
| \subsection{Numeric Types \label{typesnumeric}} |
| |
| There are four numeric types: \dfn{plain integers}, \dfn{long integers}, |
| \dfn{floating point numbers}, and \dfn{complex numbers}. |
| Plain integers (also just called \dfn{integers}) |
| are implemented using \ctype{long} in \C{}, which gives them at least 32 |
| bits of precision. Long integers have unlimited precision. Floating |
| point numbers are implemented using \ctype{double} in \C{}. All bets on |
| their precision are off unless you happen to know the machine you are |
| working with. |
| \indexii{numeric}{types} |
| \indexii{integer}{types} |
| \indexii{integer}{type} |
| \indexiii{long}{integer}{type} |
| \indexii{floating point}{type} |
| \indexii{complex number}{type} |
| \indexii{C@\C{}}{language} |
| |
| Complex numbers have a real and imaginary part, which are both |
| implemented using \ctype{double} in \C{}. To extract these parts from |
| a complex number \var{z}, use \code{\var{z}.real} and \code{\var{z}.imag}. |
| |
| Numbers are created by numeric literals or as the result of built-in |
| functions and operators. Unadorned integer literals (including hex |
| and octal numbers) yield plain integers. Integer literals with an \samp{L} |
| or \samp{l} suffix yield long integers |
| (\samp{L} is preferred because \samp{1l} looks too much like eleven!). |
| Numeric literals containing a decimal point or an exponent sign yield |
| floating point numbers. Appending \samp{j} or \samp{J} to a numeric |
| literal yields a complex number. |
| \indexii{numeric}{literals} |
| \indexii{integer}{literals} |
| \indexiii{long}{integer}{literals} |
| \indexii{floating point}{literals} |
| \indexii{complex number}{literals} |
| \indexii{hexadecimal}{literals} |
| \indexii{octal}{literals} |
| |
| Python fully supports mixed arithmetic: when a binary arithmetic |
| operator has operands of different numeric types, the operand with the |
| ``smaller'' type is converted to that of the other, where plain |
| integer is smaller than long integer is smaller than floating point is |
| smaller than complex. |
| Comparisons between numbers of mixed type use the same rule.% |
| \footnote{As a consequence, the list \code{[1, 2]} is considered equal |
| to \code{[1.0, 2.0]}, and similar for tuples.} |
| The functions \function{int()}, \function{long()}, \function{float()}, |
| and \function{complex()} can be used |
| to coerce numbers to a specific type. |
| \index{arithmetic} |
| \bifuncindex{int} |
| \bifuncindex{long} |
| \bifuncindex{float} |
| \bifuncindex{complex} |
| |
| All numeric types support the following operations, sorted by |
| ascending priority (operations in the same box have the same |
| priority; all numeric operations have a higher priority than |
| comparison operations): |
| |
| \begin{tableiii}{c|l|c}{code}{Operation}{Result}{Notes} |
| \lineiii{\var{x} + \var{y}}{sum of \var{x} and \var{y}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{x} - \var{y}}{difference of \var{x} and \var{y}}{} |
| \hline |
| \lineiii{\var{x} * \var{y}}{product of \var{x} and \var{y}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{x} / \var{y}}{quotient of \var{x} and \var{y}}{(1)} |
| \lineiii{\var{x} \%{} \var{y}}{remainder of \code{\var{x} / \var{y}}}{} |
| \hline |
| \lineiii{-\var{x}}{\var{x} negated}{} |
| \lineiii{+\var{x}}{\var{x} unchanged}{} |
| \hline |
| \lineiii{abs(\var{x})}{absolute value or magnitude of \var{x}}{} |
| \lineiii{int(\var{x})}{\var{x} converted to integer}{(2)} |
| \lineiii{long(\var{x})}{\var{x} converted to long integer}{(2)} |
| \lineiii{float(\var{x})}{\var{x} converted to floating point}{} |
| \lineiii{complex(\var{re},\var{im})}{a complex number with real part \var{re}, imaginary part \var{im}. \var{im} defaults to zero.}{} |
| \lineiii{divmod(\var{x}, \var{y})}{the pair \code{(\var{x} / \var{y}, \var{x} \%{} \var{y})}}{(3)} |
| \lineiii{pow(\var{x}, \var{y})}{\var{x} to the power \var{y}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{x} ** \var{y}}{\var{x} to the power \var{y}}{} |
| \end{tableiii} |
| \indexiii{operations on}{numeric}{types} |
| |
| \noindent |
| Notes: |
| \begin{description} |
| |
| \item[(1)] |
| For (plain or long) integer division, the result is an integer. |
| The result is always rounded towards minus infinity: 1/2 is 0, |
| (-1)/2 is -1, 1/(-2) is -1, and (-1)/(-2) is 0. |
| \indexii{integer}{division} |
| \indexiii{long}{integer}{division} |
| |
| \item[(2)] |
| Conversion from floating point to (long or plain) integer may round or |
| truncate as in \C{}; see functions \function{floor()} and \function{ceil()} in |
| module \module{math} for well-defined conversions. |
| \withsubitem{(in module math)}{% |
| \ttindex{floor()}% |
| \ttindex{ceil()}} |
| \indexii{numeric}{conversions} |
| \refbimodindex{math} |
| \indexii{C@\C{}}{language} |
| |
| \item[(3)] |
| See the section on built-in functions for an exact definition. |
| |
| \end{description} |
| % XXXJH exceptions: overflow (when? what operations?) zerodivision |
| |
| \subsubsection{Bit-string Operations on Integer Types} |
| \nodename{Bit-string Operations} |
| |
| Plain and long integer types support additional operations that make |
| sense only for bit-strings. Negative numbers are treated as their 2's |
| complement value (for long integers, this assumes a sufficiently large |
| number of bits that no overflow occurs during the operation). |
| |
| The priorities of the binary bit-wise operations are all lower than |
| the numeric operations and higher than the comparisons; the unary |
| operation \samp{\~} has the same priority as the other unary numeric |
| operations (\samp{+} and \samp{-}). |
| |
| This table lists the bit-string operations sorted in ascending |
| priority (operations in the same box have the same priority): |
| |
| \begin{tableiii}{c|l|c}{code}{Operation}{Result}{Notes} |
| \lineiii{\var{x} | \var{y}}{bitwise \dfn{or} of \var{x} and \var{y}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{x} \^{} \var{y}}{bitwise \dfn{exclusive or} of \var{x} and \var{y}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{x} \&{} \var{y}}{bitwise \dfn{and} of \var{x} and \var{y}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{x} << \var{n}}{\var{x} shifted left by \var{n} bits}{(1), (2)} |
| \lineiii{\var{x} >> \var{n}}{\var{x} shifted right by \var{n} bits}{(1), (3)} |
| \hline |
| \lineiii{\~\var{x}}{the bits of \var{x} inverted}{} |
| \end{tableiii} |
| \indexiii{operations on}{integer}{types} |
| \indexii{bit-string}{operations} |
| \indexii{shifting}{operations} |
| \indexii{masking}{operations} |
| |
| \noindent |
| Notes: |
| \begin{description} |
| \item[(1)] Negative shift counts are illegal and cause a |
| \exception{ValueError} to be raised. |
| \item[(2)] A left shift by \var{n} bits is equivalent to |
| multiplication by \code{pow(2, \var{n})} without overflow check. |
| \item[(3)] A right shift by \var{n} bits is equivalent to |
| division by \code{pow(2, \var{n})} without overflow check. |
| \end{description} |
| |
| |
| \subsection{Sequence Types \label{typesseq}} |
| |
| There are three sequence types: strings, lists and tuples. |
| |
| Strings literals are written in single or double quotes: |
| \code{'xyzzy'}, \code{"frobozz"}. See Chapter 2 of the \emph{Python |
| Reference Manual} for more about string literals. Lists are |
| constructed with square brackets, separating items with commas: |
| \code{[a, b, c]}. Tuples are constructed by the comma operator (not |
| within square brackets), with or without enclosing parentheses, but an |
| empty tuple must have the enclosing parentheses, e.g., |
| \code{a, b, c} or \code{()}. A single item tuple must have a trailing |
| comma, e.g., \code{(d,)}. |
| \indexii{sequence}{types} |
| \indexii{string}{type} |
| \indexii{tuple}{type} |
| \indexii{list}{type} |
| |
| Sequence types support the following operations. The \samp{in} and |
| \samp{not in} operations have the same priorities as the comparison |
| operations. The \samp{+} and \samp{*} operations have the same |
| priority as the corresponding numeric operations.\footnote{They must |
| have since the parser can't tell the type of the operands.} |
| |
| This table lists the sequence operations sorted in ascending priority |
| (operations in the same box have the same priority). In the table, |
| \var{s} and \var{t} are sequences of the same type; \var{n}, \var{i} |
| and \var{j} are integers: |
| |
| \begin{tableiii}{c|l|c}{code}{Operation}{Result}{Notes} |
| \lineiii{\var{x} in \var{s}}{\code{1} if an item of \var{s} is equal to \var{x}, else \code{0}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{x} not in \var{s}}{\code{0} if an item of \var{s} is |
| equal to \var{x}, else \code{1}}{} |
| \hline |
| \lineiii{\var{s} + \var{t}}{the concatenation of \var{s} and \var{t}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{s} * \var{n}\textrm{,} \var{n} * \var{s}}{\var{n} copies of \var{s} concatenated}{(3)} |
| \hline |
| \lineiii{\var{s}[\var{i}]}{\var{i}'th item of \var{s}, origin 0}{(1)} |
| \lineiii{\var{s}[\var{i}:\var{j}]}{slice of \var{s} from \var{i} to \var{j}}{(1), (2)} |
| \hline |
| \lineiii{len(\var{s})}{length of \var{s}}{} |
| \lineiii{min(\var{s})}{smallest item of \var{s}}{} |
| \lineiii{max(\var{s})}{largest item of \var{s}}{} |
| \end{tableiii} |
| \indexiii{operations on}{sequence}{types} |
| \bifuncindex{len} |
| \bifuncindex{min} |
| \bifuncindex{max} |
| \indexii{concatenation}{operation} |
| \indexii{repetition}{operation} |
| \indexii{subscript}{operation} |
| \indexii{slice}{operation} |
| \opindex{in} |
| \opindex{not in} |
| |
| \noindent |
| Notes: |
| |
| \begin{description} |
| |
| \item[(1)] If \var{i} or \var{j} is negative, the index is relative to |
| the end of the string, i.e., \code{len(\var{s}) + \var{i}} or |
| \code{len(\var{s}) + \var{j}} is substituted. But note that \code{-0} is |
| still \code{0}. |
| |
| \item[(2)] The slice of \var{s} from \var{i} to \var{j} is defined as |
| the sequence of items with index \var{k} such that \code{\var{i} <= |
| \var{k} < \var{j}}. If \var{i} or \var{j} is greater than |
| \code{len(\var{s})}, use \code{len(\var{s})}. If \var{i} is omitted, |
| use \code{0}. If \var{j} is omitted, use \code{len(\var{s})}. If |
| \var{i} is greater than or equal to \var{j}, the slice is empty. |
| |
| \item[(3)] Values of \var{n} less than \code{0} are treated as |
| \code{0} (which yields an empty sequence of the same type as |
| \var{s}). |
| |
| \end{description} |
| |
| \subsubsection{More String Operations} |
| |
| String objects have one unique built-in operation: the \code{\%} |
| operator (modulo) with a string left argument interprets this string |
| as a \C{} \cfunction{sprintf()} format string to be applied to the |
| right argument, and returns the string resulting from this formatting |
| operation. |
| |
| The right argument should be a tuple with one item for each argument |
| required by the format string; if the string requires a single |
| argument, the right argument may also be a single non-tuple object.% |
| \footnote{A tuple object in this case should be a singleton.} |
| The following format characters are understood: |
| \code{\%}, \code{c}, \code{s}, \code{i}, \code{d}, \code{u}, \code{o}, |
| \code{x}, \code{X}, \code{e}, \code{E}, \code{f}, \code{g}, \code{G}. |
| Width and precision may be a \code{*} to specify that an integer argument |
| specifies the actual width or precision. The flag characters |
| \code{-}, \code{+}, blank, \code{\#} and \code{0} are understood. The |
| size specifiers \code{h}, \code{l} or \code{L} may be |
| present but are ignored. The \code{\%s} conversion takes any Python |
| object and converts it to a string using \code{str()} before |
| formatting it. The ANSI features \code{\%p} and \code{\%n} |
| are not supported. Since Python strings have an explicit length, |
| \code{\%s} conversions don't assume that \code{'\e0'} is the end of |
| the string. |
| |
| For safety reasons, floating point precisions are clipped to 50; |
| \code{\%f} conversions for numbers whose absolute value is over 1e25 |
| are replaced by \code{\%g} conversions.% |
| \footnote{These numbers are fairly arbitrary. They are intended to |
| avoid printing endless strings of meaningless digits without hampering |
| correct use and without having to know the exact precision of floating |
| point values on a particular machine.} |
| All other errors raise exceptions. |
| |
| If the right argument is a dictionary (or any kind of mapping), then |
| the formats in the string must have a parenthesized key into that |
| dictionary inserted immediately after the \character{\%} character, |
| and each format formats the corresponding entry from the mapping. |
| For example: |
| |
| \begin{verbatim} |
| >>> count = 2 |
| >>> language = 'Python' |
| >>> print '%(language)s has %(count)03d quote types.' % vars() |
| Python has 002 quote types. |
| \end{verbatim} |
| |
| In this case no \code{*} specifiers may occur in a format (since they |
| require a sequential parameter list). |
| |
| Additional string operations are defined in standard module |
| \module{string} and in built-in module \module{re}. |
| \refstmodindex{string} |
| \refstmodindex{re} |
| |
| \subsubsection{Mutable Sequence Types} |
| |
| List objects support additional operations that allow in-place |
| modification of the object. |
| These operations would be supported by other mutable sequence types |
| (when added to the language) as well. |
| Strings and tuples are immutable sequence types and such objects cannot |
| be modified once created. |
| The following operations are defined on mutable sequence types (where |
| \var{x} is an arbitrary object): |
| \indexiii{mutable}{sequence}{types} |
| \indexii{list}{type} |
| |
| \begin{tableiii}{c|l|c}{code}{Operation}{Result}{Notes} |
| \lineiii{\var{s}[\var{i}] = \var{x}} |
| {item \var{i} of \var{s} is replaced by \var{x}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{s}[\var{i}:\var{j}] = \var{t}} |
| {slice of \var{s} from \var{i} to \var{j} is replaced by \var{t}}{} |
| \lineiii{del \var{s}[\var{i}:\var{j}]} |
| {same as \code{\var{s}[\var{i}:\var{j}] = []}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{s}.append(\var{x})} |
| {same as \code{\var{s}[len(\var{s}):len(\var{s})] = [\var{x}]}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{s}.extend(\var{x})} |
| {same as \code{\var{s}[len(\var{s}):len(\var{s})] = \var{x}}}{(5)} |
| \lineiii{\var{s}.count(\var{x})} |
| {return number of \var{i}'s for which \code{\var{s}[\var{i}] == \var{x}}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{s}.index(\var{x})} |
| {return smallest \var{i} such that \code{\var{s}[\var{i}] == \var{x}}}{(1)} |
| \lineiii{\var{s}.insert(\var{i}, \var{x})} |
| {same as \code{\var{s}[\var{i}:\var{i}] = [\var{x}]} |
| if \code{\var{i} >= 0}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{s}.pop(\optional{\var{i}})} |
| {same as \code{\var{x} = \var{s}[\var{i}]; del \var{s}[\var{i}]; return \var{x}}}{(4)} |
| \lineiii{\var{s}.remove(\var{x})} |
| {same as \code{del \var{s}[\var{s}.index(\var{x})]}}{(1)} |
| \lineiii{\var{s}.reverse()} |
| {reverses the items of \var{s} in place}{(3)} |
| \lineiii{\var{s}.sort(\optional{\var{cmpfunc}})} |
| {sort the items of \var{s} in place}{(2), (3)} |
| \end{tableiii} |
| \indexiv{operations on}{mutable}{sequence}{types} |
| \indexiii{operations on}{sequence}{types} |
| \indexiii{operations on}{list}{type} |
| \indexii{subscript}{assignment} |
| \indexii{slice}{assignment} |
| \stindex{del} |
| \withsubitem{(list method)}{% |
| \ttindex{append()}% |
| \ttindex{extend()}% |
| \ttindex{count()}% |
| \ttindex{index()}% |
| \ttindex{insert()}% |
| \ttindex{pop()}% |
| \ttindex{remove()}% |
| \ttindex{reverse()}% |
| \ttindex{sort()}} |
| \noindent |
| Notes: |
| \begin{description} |
| \item[(1)] Raises an exception when \var{x} is not found in \var{s}. |
| |
| \item[(2)] The \method{sort()} method takes an optional argument |
| specifying a comparison function of two arguments (list items) which |
| should return \code{-1}, \code{0} or \code{1} depending on whether the |
| first argument is considered smaller than, equal to, or larger than the |
| second argument. Note that this slows the sorting process down |
| considerably; e.g. to sort a list in reverse order it is much faster |
| to use calls to the methods \method{sort()} and \method{reverse()} |
| than to use the built-in function \function{sort()} with a |
| comparison function that reverses the ordering of the elements. |
| |
| \item[(3)] The \method{sort()} and \method{reverse()} methods modify the |
| list in place for economy of space when sorting or reversing a large |
| list. They don't return the sorted or reversed list to remind you of |
| this side effect. |
| |
| \item[(4)] The \method{pop()} method is experimental and not supported |
| by other mutable sequence types than lists. |
| The optional argument \var{i} defaults to \code{-1}, so that |
| by default the last item is removed and returned. |
| |
| \item[(5)] Raises an exception when \var{x} is not a list object. The |
| \method{extend()} method is experimental and not supported by mutable types |
| other than lists. |
| \end{description} |
| |
| |
| \subsection{Mapping Types \label{typesmapping}} |
| |
| A \dfn{mapping} object maps values of one type (the key type) to |
| arbitrary objects. Mappings are mutable objects. There is currently |
| only one standard mapping type, the \dfn{dictionary}. A dictionary's keys are |
| almost arbitrary values. The only types of values not acceptable as |
| keys are values containing lists or dictionaries or other mutable |
| types that are compared by value rather than by object identity. |
| Numeric types used for keys obey the normal rules for numeric |
| comparison: if two numbers compare equal (e.g. \code{1} and |
| \code{1.0}) then they can be used interchangeably to index the same |
| dictionary entry. |
| |
| \indexii{mapping}{types} |
| \indexii{dictionary}{type} |
| |
| Dictionaries are created by placing a comma-separated list of |
| \code{\var{key}: \var{value}} pairs within braces, for example: |
| \code{\{'jack': 4098, 'sjoerd': 4127\}} or |
| \code{\{4098: 'jack', 4127: 'sjoerd'\}}. |
| |
| The following operations are defined on mappings (where \var{a} is a |
| mapping, \var{k} is a key and \var{x} is an arbitrary object): |
| |
| \begin{tableiii}{c|l|c}{code}{Operation}{Result}{Notes} |
| \lineiii{len(\var{a})}{the number of items in \var{a}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{a}[\var{k}]}{the item of \var{a} with key \var{k}}{(1)} |
| \lineiii{\var{a}[\var{k}] = \var{x}}{set \code{\var{a}[\var{k}]} to \var{x}}{} |
| \lineiii{del \var{a}[\var{k}]}{remove \code{\var{a}[\var{k}]} from \var{a}}{(1)} |
| \lineiii{\var{a}.clear()}{remove all items from \code{a}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{a}.copy()}{a (shallow) copy of \code{a}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{a}.has_key(\var{k})}{\code{1} if \var{a} has a key \var{k}, else \code{0}}{} |
| \lineiii{\var{a}.items()}{a copy of \var{a}'s list of (\var{key}, \var{value}) pairs}{(2)} |
| \lineiii{\var{a}.keys()}{a copy of \var{a}'s list of keys}{(2)} |
| \lineiii{\var{a}.update(\var{b})}{\code{for k, v in \var{b}.items(): \var{a}[k] = v}}{(3)} |
| \lineiii{\var{a}.values()}{a copy of \var{a}'s list of values}{(2)} |
| \lineiii{\var{a}.get(\var{k}\optional{, \var{f}})}{the value of \var{a} with key \var{k}}{(4)} |
| \end{tableiii} |
| \indexiii{operations on}{mapping}{types} |
| \indexiii{operations on}{dictionary}{type} |
| \stindex{del} |
| \bifuncindex{len} |
| \withsubitem{(dictionary method)}{% |
| \ttindex{clear()}% |
| \ttindex{copy()}% |
| \ttindex{has_key()}% |
| \ttindex{items()}% |
| \ttindex{keys()}% |
| \ttindex{update()}% |
| \ttindex{values()}% |
| \ttindex{get()}} |
| \noindent |
| Notes: |
| \begin{description} |
| \item[(1)] Raises an exception if \var{k} is not in the map. |
| |
| \item[(2)] Keys and values are listed in random order. |
| |
| \item[(3)] \var{b} must be of the same type as \var{a}. |
| |
| \item[(4)] Never raises an exception if \var{k} is not in the map, |
| instead it returns \var{f}. \var{f} is optional, when not provided |
| and \var{k} is not in the map, \code{None} is returned. |
| \end{description} |
| |
| |
| \subsection{Other Built-in Types \label{typesother}} |
| |
| The interpreter supports several other kinds of objects. |
| Most of these support only one or two operations. |
| |
| \subsubsection{Modules} |
| |
| The only special operation on a module is attribute access: |
| \code{\var{m}.\var{name}}, where \var{m} is a module and \var{name} |
| accesses a name defined in \var{m}'s symbol table. Module attributes |
| can be assigned to. (Note that the \keyword{import} statement is not, |
| strictly speaking, an operation on a module object; \code{import |
| \var{foo}} does not require a module object named \var{foo} to exist, |
| rather it requires an (external) \emph{definition} for a module named |
| \var{foo} somewhere.) |
| |
| A special member of every module is \member{__dict__}. |
| This is the dictionary containing the module's symbol table. |
| Modifying this dictionary will actually change the module's symbol |
| table, but direct assignment to the \member{__dict__} attribute is not |
| possible (i.e., you can write \code{\var{m}.__dict__['a'] = 1}, which |
| defines \code{\var{m}.a} to be \code{1}, but you can't write |
| \code{\var{m}.__dict__ = \{\}}. |
| |
| Modules are written like this: \code{<module 'sys'>}. |
| |
| \subsubsection{Classes and Class Instances} |
| \nodename{Classes and Instances} |
| |
| See Chapters 3 and 7 of the \emph{Python Reference Manual} for these. |
| |
| \subsubsection{Functions} |
| |
| Function objects are created by function definitions. The only |
| operation on a function object is to call it: |
| \code{\var{func}(\var{argument-list})}. |
| |
| There are really two flavors of function objects: built-in functions |
| and user-defined functions. Both support the same operation (to call |
| the function), but the implementation is different, hence the |
| different object types. |
| |
| The implementation adds two special read-only attributes: |
| \code{\var{f}.func_code} is a function's \dfn{code |
| object}\obindex{code} (see below) and \code{\var{f}.func_globals} is |
| the dictionary used as the function's global name space (this is the |
| same as \code{\var{m}.__dict__} where \var{m} is the module in which |
| the function \var{f} was defined). |
| |
| |
| \subsubsection{Methods} |
| \obindex{method} |
| |
| Methods are functions that are called using the attribute notation. |
| There are two flavors: built-in methods (such as \method{append()} on |
| lists) and class instance methods. Built-in methods are described |
| with the types that support them. |
| |
| The implementation adds two special read-only attributes to class |
| instance methods: \code{\var{m}.im_self} is the object on which the |
| method operates, and \code{\var{m}.im_func} is the function |
| implementing the method. Calling \code{\var{m}(\var{arg-1}, |
| \var{arg-2}, \textrm{\ldots}, \var{arg-n})} is completely equivalent to |
| calling \code{\var{m}.im_func(\var{m}.im_self, \var{arg-1}, |
| \var{arg-2}, \textrm{\ldots}, \var{arg-n})}. |
| |
| See the \emph{Python Reference Manual} for more information. |
| |
| |
| \subsubsection{Code Objects \label{bltin-code-objects}} |
| \obindex{code} |
| |
| Code objects are used by the implementation to represent |
| ``pseudo-compiled'' executable Python code such as a function body. |
| They differ from function objects because they don't contain a |
| reference to their global execution environment. Code objects are |
| returned by the built-in \function{compile()} function and can be |
| extracted from function objects through their \member{func_code} |
| attribute. |
| \bifuncindex{compile} |
| \withsubitem{(function object attribute)}{\ttindex{func_code}} |
| |
| A code object can be executed or evaluated by passing it (instead of a |
| source string) to the \keyword{exec} statement or the built-in |
| \function{eval()} function. |
| \stindex{exec} |
| \bifuncindex{eval} |
| |
| See the \emph{Python Reference Manual} for more information. |
| |
| |
| \subsubsection{Type Objects \label{bltin-type-objects}} |
| |
| Type objects represent the various object types. An object's type is |
| accessed by the built-in function \function{type()}. There are no special |
| operations on types. The standard module \module{types} defines names |
| for all standard built-in types. |
| \bifuncindex{type} |
| \refstmodindex{types} |
| |
| Types are written like this: \code{<type 'int'>}. |
| |
| |
| \subsubsection{The Null Object \label{bltin-null-object}} |
| |
| This object is returned by functions that don't explicitly return a |
| value. It supports no special operations. There is exactly one null |
| object, named \code{None} (a built-in name). |
| |
| It is written as \code{None}. |
| |
| |
| \subsubsection{The Ellipsis Object \label{bltin-ellipsis-object}} |
| |
| This object is used by extended slice notation (see the \emph{Python |
| Reference Manual}). It supports no special operations. There is |
| exactly one ellipsis object, named \code{Ellipsis} (a built-in name). |
| |
| It is written as \code{Ellipsis}. |
| |
| \subsubsection{File Objects \label{bltin-file-objects}} |
| |
| File objects are implemented using \C{}'s \code{stdio} package and can be |
| created with the built-in function \function{open()} described Section |
| \ref{built-in-funcs}, ``Built-in Functions.'' They are also returned |
| by some other built-in functions and methods, e.g., |
| \function{posix.popen()} and \function{posix.fdopen()} and the |
| \method{makefile()} method of socket objects. |
| \bifuncindex{open} |
| \refbimodindex{posix} |
| \refbimodindex{socket} |
| |
| When a file operation fails for an I/O-related reason, the exception |
| \exception{IOError} is raised. This includes situations where the |
| operation is not defined for some reason, like \method{seek()} on a tty |
| device or writing a file opened for reading. |
| |
| Files have the following methods: |
| |
| |
| \begin{methoddesc}[file]{close}{} |
| Close the file. A closed file cannot be read or written anymore. |
| \end{methoddesc} |
| |
| \begin{methoddesc}[file]{flush}{} |
| Flush the internal buffer, like \code{stdio}'s \cfunction{fflush()}. |
| \end{methoddesc} |
| |
| \begin{methoddesc}[file]{isatty}{} |
| Return \code{1} if the file is connected to a tty(-like) device, else |
| \code{0}. |
| \end{methoddesc} |
| |
| \begin{methoddesc}[file]{fileno}{} |
| Return the integer ``file descriptor'' that is used by the underlying |
| implementation to request I/O operations from the operating system. |
| This can be useful for other, lower level interfaces that use file |
| descriptors, e.g. module \module{fcntl} or \function{os.read()} and friends. |
| \refbimodindex{fcntl} |
| \end{methoddesc} |
| |
| \begin{methoddesc}[file]{read}{\optional{size}} |
| Read at most \var{size} bytes from the file (less if the read hits |
| \EOF{} or no more data is immediately available on a pipe, tty or |
| similar device). If the \var{size} argument is negative or omitted, |
| read all data until \EOF{} is reached. The bytes are returned as a string |
| object. An empty string is returned when \EOF{} is encountered |
| immediately. (For certain files, like ttys, it makes sense to |
| continue reading after an \EOF{} is hit.) |
| \end{methoddesc} |
| |
| \begin{methoddesc}[file]{readline}{\optional{size}} |
| Read one entire line from the file. A trailing newline character is |
| kept in the string% |
| \footnote{The advantage of leaving the newline on is that an empty string |
| can be returned to mean \EOF{} without being ambiguous. Another |
| advantage is that (in cases where it might matter, e.g. if you |
| want to make an exact copy of a file while scanning its lines) |
| you can tell whether the last line of a file ended in a newline |
| or not (yes this happens!).} |
| (but may be absent when a file ends with an |
| incomplete line). If the \var{size} argument is present and |
| non-negative, it is a maximum byte count (including the trailing |
| newline) and an incomplete line may be returned. |
| An empty string is returned when \EOF{} is hit |
| immediately. Note: unlike \code{stdio}'s \cfunction{fgets()}, the returned |
| string contains null characters (\code{'\e 0'}) if they occurred in the |
| input. |
| \end{methoddesc} |
| |
| \begin{methoddesc}[file]{readlines}{\optional{sizehint}} |
| Read until \EOF{} using \method{readline()} and return a list containing |
| the lines thus read. If the optional \var{sizehint} argument is |
| present, instead of reading up to \EOF{}, whole lines totalling |
| approximately \var{sizehint} bytes (possibly after rounding up to an |
| internal buffer size) are read. |
| \end{methoddesc} |
| |
| \begin{methoddesc}[file]{seek}{offset\optional{, whence}} |
| Set the file's current position, like \code{stdio}'s \cfunction{fseek()}. |
| The \var{whence} argument is optional and defaults to \code{0} |
| (absolute file positioning); other values are \code{1} (seek |
| relative to the current position) and \code{2} (seek relative to the |
| file's end). There is no return value. |
| \end{methoddesc} |
| |
| \begin{methoddesc}[file]{tell}{} |
| Return the file's current position, like \code{stdio}'s |
| \cfunction{ftell()}. |
| \end{methoddesc} |
| |
| \begin{methoddesc}[file]{truncate}{\optional{size}} |
| Truncate the file's size. If the optional size argument present, the |
| file is truncated to (at most) that size. The size defaults to the |
| current position. Availability of this function depends on the |
| operating system version (e.g., not all \UNIX{} versions support this |
| operation). |
| \end{methoddesc} |
| |
| \begin{methoddesc}[file]{write}{str} |
| Write a string to the file. There is no return value. Note: due to |
| buffering, the string may not actually show up in the file until |
| the \method{flush()} or \method{close()} method is called. |
| \end{methoddesc} |
| |
| \begin{methoddesc}[file]{writelines}{list} |
| Write a list of strings to the file. There is no return value. |
| (The name is intended to match \method{readlines()}; |
| \method{writelines()} does not add line separators.) |
| \end{methoddesc} |
| |
| |
| File objects also offer the following attributes: |
| |
| \begin{memberdesc}[file]{closed} |
| Boolean indicating the current state of the file object. This is a |
| read-only attribute; the \method{close()} method changes the value. |
| \end{memberdesc} |
| |
| \begin{memberdesc}[file]{mode} |
| The I/O mode for the file. If the file was created using the |
| \function{open()} built-in function, this will be the value of the |
| \var{mode} parameter. This is a read-only attribute. |
| \end{memberdesc} |
| |
| \begin{memberdesc}[file]{name} |
| If the file object was created using \function{open()}, the name of |
| the file. Otherwise, some string that indicates the source of the |
| file object, of the form \samp{<\mbox{\ldots}>}. This is a read-only |
| attribute. |
| \end{memberdesc} |
| |
| \begin{memberdesc}[file]{softspace} |
| Boolean that indicates whether a space character needs to be printed |
| before another value when using the \keyword{print} statement. |
| Classes that are trying to simulate a file object should also have a |
| writable \member{softspace} attribute, which should be initialized to |
| zero. This will be automatic for classes implemented in Python; types |
| implemented in \C{} will have to provide a writable \member{softspace} |
| attribute. |
| \end{memberdesc} |
| |
| \subsubsection{Internal Objects} |
| |
| See the \emph{Python Reference Manual} for this information. It |
| describes code objects, stack frame objects, traceback objects, and |
| slice objects. |
| |
| |
| \subsection{Special Attributes \label{specialattrs}} |
| |
| The implementation adds a few special read-only attributes to several |
| object types, where they are relevant: |
| |
| \begin{memberdescni}{__dict__} |
| A dictionary of some sort used to store an |
| object's (writable) attributes. |
| \end{memberdescni} |
| |
| \begin{memberdescni}{__methods__} |
| List of the methods of many built-in object types, |
| e.g., \code{[].__methods__} yields |
| \code{['append', 'count', 'index', 'insert', 'pop', 'remove', |
| 'reverse', 'sort']}. |
| \end{memberdescni} |
| |
| \begin{memberdescni}{__members__} |
| Similar to \member{__methods__}, but lists data attributes. |
| \end{memberdescni} |
| |
| \begin{memberdescni}{__class__} |
| The class to which a class instance belongs. |
| \end{memberdescni} |
| |
| \begin{memberdescni}{__bases__} |
| The tuple of base classes of a class object. |
| \end{memberdescni} |