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			759 lines
		
	
	
	
		
			27 KiB
		
	
	
	
		
			TeX
		
	
	
	
	
	
\chapter{Expressions and conditions}
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\index{expression}
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\index{condition}
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{\bf Note:} In this and the following chapters, extended BNF notation
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will be used to describe syntax, not lexical analysis.
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\index{BNF}
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This chapter explains the meaning of the elements of expressions and
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conditions.  Conditions are a superset of expressions, and a condition
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may be used wherever an expression is required by enclosing it in
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parentheses.  The only places where expressions are used in the syntax
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instead of conditions is in expression statements and on the
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right-hand side of assignment statements; this catches some nasty bugs
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like accidentally writing \verb@x == 1@ instead of \verb@x = 1@.
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\indexii{assignment}{statement}
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The comma plays several roles in Python's syntax.  It is usually an
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operator with a lower precedence than all others, but occasionally
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serves other purposes as well; e.g. it separates function arguments,
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is used in list and dictionary constructors, and has special semantics
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in \verb@print@ statements.
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\index{comma}
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When (one alternative of) a syntax rule has the form
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\begin{verbatim}
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name:           othername
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\end{verbatim}
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and no semantics are given, the semantics of this form of \verb@name@
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are the same as for \verb@othername@.
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\index{syntax}
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\section{Arithmetic conversions}
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\indexii{arithmetic}{conversion}
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When a description of an arithmetic operator below uses the phrase
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``the numeric arguments are converted to a common type'',
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this both means that if either argument is not a number, a
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\verb@TypeError@ exception is raised, and that otherwise
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the following conversions are applied:
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\exindex{TypeError}
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\indexii{floating point}{number}
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\indexii{long}{integer}
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\indexii{plain}{integer}
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\begin{itemize}
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\item	first, if either argument is a floating point number,
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	the other is converted to floating point;
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\item	else, if either argument is a long integer,
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	the other is converted to long integer;
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\item	otherwise, both must be plain integers and no conversion
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	is necessary.
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\end{itemize}
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\section{Atoms}
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\index{atom}
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Atoms are the most basic elements of expressions.  Forms enclosed in
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reverse quotes or in parentheses, brackets or braces are also
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categorized syntactically as atoms.  The syntax for atoms is:
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\begin{verbatim}
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atom:      identifier | literal | enclosure
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enclosure: parenth_form|list_display|dict_display|string_conversion
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\end{verbatim}
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\subsection{Identifiers (Names)}
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\index{name}
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\index{identifier}
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An identifier occurring as an atom is a reference to a local, global
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or built-in name binding.  If a name is assigned to anywhere in a code
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block (even in unreachable code), and is not mentioned in a
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\verb@global@ statement in that code block, then it refers to a local
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name throughout that code block.  When it is not assigned to anywhere
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in the block, or when it is assigned to but also explicitly listed in
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a \verb@global@ statement, it refers to a global name if one exists,
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else to a built-in name (and this binding may dynamically change).
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\indexii{name}{binding}
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\index{code block}
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\stindex{global}
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\indexii{built-in}{name}
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\indexii{global}{name}
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When the name is bound to an object, evaluation of the atom yields
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that object.  When a name is not bound, an attempt to evaluate it
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raises a \verb@NameError@ exception.
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\exindex{NameError}
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\subsection{Literals}
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\index{literal}
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Python knows string and numeric literals:
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\begin{verbatim}
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literal:        stringliteral | integer | longinteger | floatnumber
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\end{verbatim}
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Evaluation of a literal yields an object of the given type (string,
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integer, long integer, floating point number) with the given value.
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The value may be approximated in the case of floating point literals.
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See section \ref{literals} for details.
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All literals correspond to immutable data types, and hence the
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object's identity is less important than its value.  Multiple
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evaluations of literals with the same value (either the same
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occurrence in the program text or a different occurrence) may obtain
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the same object or a different object with the same value.
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\indexiii{immutable}{data}{type}
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(In the original implementation, all literals in the same code block
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with the same type and value yield the same object.)
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\subsection{Parenthesized forms}
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\index{parenthesized form}
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A parenthesized form is an optional condition list enclosed in
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parentheses:
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\begin{verbatim}
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parenth_form:      "(" [condition_list] ")"
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\end{verbatim}
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A parenthesized condition list yields whatever that condition list
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yields.
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An empty pair of parentheses yields an empty tuple object.  Since
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tuples are immutable, the rules for literals apply here.
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\indexii{empty}{tuple}
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(Note that tuples are not formed by the parentheses, but rather by use
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of the comma operator.  The exception is the empty tuple, for which
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parentheses {\em are} required --- allowing unparenthesized ``nothing''
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in expressions would cause ambiguities and allow common typos to
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pass uncaught.)
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\index{comma}
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\indexii{tuple}{display}
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\subsection{List displays}
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\indexii{list}{display}
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A list display is a possibly empty series of conditions enclosed in
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square brackets:
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\begin{verbatim}
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list_display:   "[" [condition_list] "]"
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\end{verbatim}
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A list display yields a new list object.
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\obindex{list}
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If it has no condition list, the list object has no items.  Otherwise,
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the elements of the condition list are evaluated from left to right
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and inserted in the list object in that order.
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\indexii{empty}{list}
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\subsection{Dictionary displays} \label{dict}
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\indexii{dictionary}{display}
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A dictionary display is a possibly empty series of key/datum pairs
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enclosed in curly braces:
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\index{key}
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\index{datum}
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\index{key/datum pair}
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\begin{verbatim}
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dict_display:   "{" [key_datum_list] "}"
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key_datum_list: key_datum ("," key_datum)* [","]
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key_datum:      condition ":" condition
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\end{verbatim}
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A dictionary display yields a new dictionary object.
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\obindex{dictionary}
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The key/datum pairs are evaluated from left to right to define the
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entries of the dictionary: each key object is used as a key into the
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dictionary to store the corresponding datum.
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Restrictions on the types of the key values are listed earlier in
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section \ref{types}.
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Clashes between duplicate keys are not detected; the last
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datum (textually rightmost in the display) stored for a given key
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value prevails.
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\exindex{TypeError}
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\subsection{String conversions}
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\indexii{string}{conversion}
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\indexii{reverse}{quotes}
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\indexii{backward}{quotes}
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\index{back-quotes}
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A string conversion is a condition list enclosed in reverse (or
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backward) quotes:
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\begin{verbatim}
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string_conversion: "`" condition_list "`"
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\end{verbatim}
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A string conversion evaluates the contained condition list and
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converts the resulting object into a string according to rules
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specific to its type.
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If the object is a string, a number, \verb@None@, or a tuple, list or
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dictionary containing only objects whose type is one of these, the
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resulting string is a valid Python expression which can be passed to
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the built-in function \verb@eval()@ to yield an expression with the
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same value (or an approximation, if floating point numbers are
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involved).
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(In particular, converting a string adds quotes around it and converts
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``funny'' characters to escape sequences that are safe to print.)
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It is illegal to attempt to convert recursive objects (e.g. lists or
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dictionaries that contain a reference to themselves, directly or
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indirectly.)
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\obindex{recursive}
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The built-in function \verb@repr()@ performs exactly the same
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conversion in its argument as enclosing it it reverse quotes does.
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The built-in function \verb@str()@ performs a similar but more
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user-friendly conversion.
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\bifuncindex{repr}
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\bifuncindex{str}
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\section{Primaries} \label{primaries}
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\index{primary}
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Primaries represent the most tightly bound operations of the language.
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Their syntax is:
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\begin{verbatim}
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primary:        atom | attributeref | subscription | slicing | call
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\end{verbatim}
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\subsection{Attribute references}
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\indexii{attribute}{reference}
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An attribute reference is a primary followed by a period and a name:
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\begin{verbatim}
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attributeref:   primary "." identifier
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\end{verbatim}
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The primary must evaluate to an object of a type that supports
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attribute references, e.g. a module or a list.  This object is then
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asked to produce the attribute whose name is the identifier.  If this
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attribute is not available, the exception \verb@AttributeError@ is
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raised.  Otherwise, the type and value of the object produced is
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determined by the object.  Multiple evaluations of the same attribute
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reference may yield different objects.
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\obindex{module}
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\obindex{list}
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\subsection{Subscriptions}
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\index{subscription}
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A subscription selects an item of a sequence (string, tuple or list)
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or mapping (dictionary) object:
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\obindex{sequence}
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\obindex{mapping}
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\obindex{string}
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\obindex{tuple}
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\obindex{list}
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\obindex{dictionary}
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\indexii{sequence}{item}
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\begin{verbatim}
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subscription:   primary "[" condition "]"
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\end{verbatim}
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The primary must evaluate to an object of a sequence or mapping type.
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If it is a mapping, the condition must evaluate to an object whose
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value is one of the keys of the mapping, and the subscription selects
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the value in the mapping that corresponds to that key.
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If it is a sequence, the condition must evaluate to a plain integer.
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If this value is negative, the length of the sequence is added to it
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(so that, e.g. \verb@x[-1]@ selects the last item of \verb@x@.)
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The resulting value must be a nonnegative integer smaller than the
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number of items in the sequence, and the subscription selects the item
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whose index is that value (counting from zero).
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A string's items are characters.  A character is not a separate data
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type but a string of exactly one character.
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\index{character}
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\indexii{string}{item}
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\subsection{Slicings}
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\index{slicing}
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\index{slice}
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A slicing (or slice) selects a range of items in a sequence (string,
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tuple or list) object:
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\obindex{sequence}
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\obindex{string}
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\obindex{tuple}
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\obindex{list}
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\begin{verbatim}
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slicing:        primary "[" [condition] ":" [condition] "]"
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\end{verbatim}
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The primary must evaluate to a sequence object.  The lower and upper
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bound expressions, if present, must evaluate to plain integers;
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defaults are zero and the sequence's length, respectively.  If either
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bound is negative, the sequence's length is added to it.  The slicing
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now selects all items with index \var{k} such that
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\code{\var{i} <= \var{k} < \var{j}} where \var{i}
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and \var{j} are the specified lower and upper bounds.  This may be an
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empty sequence.  It is not an error if \var{i} or \var{j} lie outside the
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range of valid indexes (such items don't exist so they aren't
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selected).
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\subsection{Calls} \label{calls}
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\index{call}
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A call calls a callable object (e.g. a function) with a possibly empty
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series of arguments:\footnote{The new syntax for keyword arguments is
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not yet documented in this manual.  See chapter 12 of the Tutorial.}
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\obindex{callable}
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\begin{verbatim}
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call:           primary "(" [condition_list] ")"
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\end{verbatim}
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The primary must evaluate to a callable object (user-defined
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functions, built-in functions, methods of built-in objects, class
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objects, and methods of class instances are callable).  If it is a
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class, the argument list must be empty; otherwise, the arguments are
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evaluated.
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A call always returns some value, possibly \verb@None@, unless it
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raises an exception.  How this value is computed depends on the type
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of the callable object.  If it is:
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\begin{description}
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\item[a user-defined function:] the code block for the function is
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executed, passing it the argument list.  The first thing the code
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block will do is bind the formal parameters to the arguments; this is
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described in section \ref{function}.  When the code block executes a
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\verb@return@ statement, this specifies the return value of the
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function call.
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\indexii{function}{call}
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\indexiii{user-defined}{function}{call}
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\obindex{user-defined function}
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\obindex{function}
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\item[a built-in function or method:] the result is up to the
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interpreter; see the library reference manual for the descriptions of
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built-in functions and methods.
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\indexii{function}{call}
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\indexii{built-in function}{call}
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\indexii{method}{call}
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\indexii{built-in method}{call}
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\obindex{built-in method}
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\obindex{built-in function}
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\obindex{method}
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\obindex{function}
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\item[a class object:] a new instance of that class is returned.
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\obindex{class}
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\indexii{class object}{call}
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\item[a class instance method:] the corresponding user-defined
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function is called, with an argument list that is one longer than the
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argument list of the call: the instance becomes the first argument.
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\obindex{class instance}
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\obindex{instance}
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\indexii{instance}{call}
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\indexii{class instance}{call}
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\end{description}
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\section{Unary arithmetic operations}
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\indexiii{unary}{arithmetic}{operation}
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\indexiii{unary}{bit-wise}{operation}
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All unary arithmetic (and bit-wise) operations have the same priority:
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\begin{verbatim}
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u_expr:         primary | "-" u_expr | "+" u_expr | "~" u_expr
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\end{verbatim}
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The unary \verb@"-"@ (minus) operator yields the negation of its
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numeric argument.
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\index{negation}
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\index{minus}
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The unary \verb@"+"@ (plus) operator yields its numeric argument
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unchanged.
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\index{plus}
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The unary \verb@"~"@ (invert) operator yields the bit-wise inversion
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of its plain or long integer argument.  The bit-wise inversion of
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\verb@x@ is defined as \verb@-(x+1)@.
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\index{inversion}
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In all three cases, if the argument does not have the proper type,
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a \verb@TypeError@ exception is raised.
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\exindex{TypeError}
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\section{Binary arithmetic operations}
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\indexiii{binary}{arithmetic}{operation}
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The binary arithmetic operations have the conventional priority
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levels.  Note that some of these operations also apply to certain
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non-numeric types.  There is no ``power'' operator, so there are only
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two levels, one for multiplicative operators and one for additive
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operators:
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\begin{verbatim}
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m_expr:         u_expr | m_expr "*" u_expr
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              | m_expr "/" u_expr | m_expr "%" u_expr
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a_expr:         m_expr | aexpr "+" m_expr | aexpr "-" m_expr
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\end{verbatim}
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The \verb@"*"@ (multiplication) operator yields the product of its
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arguments.  The arguments must either both be numbers, or one argument
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must be a plain integer and the other must be a sequence.  In the
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former case, the numbers are converted to a common type and then
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multiplied together.  In the latter case, sequence repetition is
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performed; a negative repetition factor yields an empty sequence.
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\index{multiplication}
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The \verb@"/"@ (division) operator yields the quotient of its
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arguments.  The numeric arguments are first converted to a common
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type.  Plain or long integer division yields an integer of the same
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type; the result is that of mathematical division with the `floor'
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						|
function applied to the result.  Division by zero raises the
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\verb@ZeroDivisionError@ exception.
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\exindex{ZeroDivisionError}
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\index{division}
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The \verb@"%"@ (modulo) operator yields the remainder from the
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division of the first argument by the second.  The numeric arguments
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						|
are first converted to a common type.  A zero right argument raises
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						|
the \verb@ZeroDivisionError@ exception.  The arguments may be floating
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						|
point numbers, e.g. \verb@3.14 % 0.7@ equals \verb@0.34@.  The modulo
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						|
operator always yields a result with the same sign as its second
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operand (or zero); the absolute value of the result is strictly
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smaller than the second operand.
 | 
						|
\index{modulo}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The integer division and modulo operators are connected by the
 | 
						|
following identity: \verb@x == (x/y)*y + (x%y)@.  Integer division and
 | 
						|
modulo are also connected with the built-in function \verb@divmod()@:
 | 
						|
\verb@divmod(x, y) == (x/y, x%y)@.  These identities don't hold for
 | 
						|
floating point numbers; there a similar identity holds where
 | 
						|
\verb@x/y@ is replaced by \verb@floor(x/y)@).
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The \verb@"+"@ (addition) operator yields the sum of its arguments.
 | 
						|
The arguments must either both be numbers, or both sequences of the
 | 
						|
same type.  In the former case, the numbers are converted to a common
 | 
						|
type and then added together.  In the latter case, the sequences are
 | 
						|
concatenated.
 | 
						|
\index{addition}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The \verb@"-"@ (subtraction) operator yields the difference of its
 | 
						|
arguments.  The numeric arguments are first converted to a common
 | 
						|
type.
 | 
						|
\index{subtraction}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\section{Shifting operations}
 | 
						|
\indexii{shifting}{operation}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The shifting operations have lower priority than the arithmetic
 | 
						|
operations:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\begin{verbatim}
 | 
						|
shift_expr:     a_expr | shift_expr ( "<<" | ">>" ) a_expr
 | 
						|
\end{verbatim}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
These operators accept plain or long integers as arguments.  The
 | 
						|
arguments are converted to a common type.  They shift the first
 | 
						|
argument to the left or right by the number of bits given by the
 | 
						|
second argument.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
A right shift by \var{n} bits is defined as division by
 | 
						|
\code{pow(2,\var{n})}.  A left shift by \var{n} bits is defined as
 | 
						|
multiplication with \code{pow(2,\var{n})}; for plain integers there is
 | 
						|
no overflow check so this drops bits and flips the sign if the result
 | 
						|
is not less than \code{pow(2,31)} in absolute value.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Negative shift counts raise a \verb@ValueError@ exception.
 | 
						|
\exindex{ValueError}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\section{Binary bit-wise operations}
 | 
						|
\indexiii{binary}{bit-wise}{operation}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Each of the three bitwise operations has a different priority level:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\begin{verbatim}
 | 
						|
and_expr:       shift_expr | and_expr "&" shift_expr
 | 
						|
xor_expr:       and_expr | xor_expr "^" and_expr
 | 
						|
or_expr:       xor_expr | or_expr "|" xor_expr
 | 
						|
\end{verbatim}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The \verb@"&"@ operator yields the bitwise AND of its arguments, which
 | 
						|
must be plain or long integers.  The arguments are converted to a
 | 
						|
common type.
 | 
						|
\indexii{bit-wise}{and}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The \verb@"^"@ operator yields the bitwise XOR (exclusive OR) of its
 | 
						|
arguments, which must be plain or long integers.  The arguments are
 | 
						|
converted to a common type.
 | 
						|
\indexii{bit-wise}{xor}
 | 
						|
\indexii{exclusive}{or}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The \verb@"|"@ operator yields the bitwise (inclusive) OR of its
 | 
						|
arguments, which must be plain or long integers.  The arguments are
 | 
						|
converted to a common type.
 | 
						|
\indexii{bit-wise}{or}
 | 
						|
\indexii{inclusive}{or}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\section{Comparisons}
 | 
						|
\index{comparison}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Contrary to C, all comparison operations in Python have the same
 | 
						|
priority, which is lower than that of any arithmetic, shifting or
 | 
						|
bitwise operation.  Also contrary to C, expressions like
 | 
						|
\verb@a < b < c@ have the interpretation that is conventional in
 | 
						|
mathematics:
 | 
						|
\index{C}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\begin{verbatim}
 | 
						|
comparison:     or_expr (comp_operator or_expr)*
 | 
						|
comp_operator:  "<"|">"|"=="|">="|"<="|"<>"|"!="|"is" ["not"]|["not"] "in"
 | 
						|
\end{verbatim}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Comparisons yield integer values: 1 for true, 0 for false.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
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}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Formally, if \var{a}, \var{b}, \var{c}, \ldots, \var{y}, \var{z} are
 | 
						|
expressions and \var{opa}, \var{opb}, \ldots, \var{opy} are comparison
 | 
						|
operators, then \var{a opa b opb c} \ldots \var{y opy z} is equivalent
 | 
						|
to \var{a opa b} \code{and} \var{b opb c} \code{and} \ldots \code{and}
 | 
						|
\var{y opy z}, except that each expression is evaluated at most once.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Note that \var{a opa b opb c} doesn't imply any kind of comparison
 | 
						|
between \var{a} and \var{c}, so that e.g.\ \code{x < y > z} is
 | 
						|
perfectly legal (though perhaps not pretty).
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The forms \verb@<>@ and \verb@!=@ are equivalent; for consistency with
 | 
						|
C, \verb@!=@ is preferred; where \verb@!=@ is mentioned below
 | 
						|
\verb@<>@ is also implied.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The operators {\tt "<", ">", "==", ">=", "<="}, and {\tt "!="} compare
 | 
						|
the values of two objects.  The objects needn't have the same type.
 | 
						|
If both are numbers, they are coverted to a common type.  Otherwise,
 | 
						|
objects of different types {\em always} compare unequal, and are
 | 
						|
ordered consistently but arbitrarily.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
(This unusual definition of comparison is done to simplify the
 | 
						|
definition of operations like sorting and the \verb@in@ and
 | 
						|
\verb@not@ \verb@in@ operators.)
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Comparison of objects of the same type depends on the type:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\begin{itemize}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\item
 | 
						|
Numbers are compared arithmetically.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\item
 | 
						|
Strings are compared lexicographically using the numeric equivalents
 | 
						|
(the result of the built-in function \verb@ord@) of their characters.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\item
 | 
						|
Tuples and lists are compared lexicographically using comparison of
 | 
						|
corresponding items.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\item
 | 
						|
Mappings (dictionaries) are compared through lexicographic
 | 
						|
comparison of their sorted (key, value) lists.%
 | 
						|
\footnote{This is expensive since it requires sorting the keys first,
 | 
						|
but about the only sensible definition.  An earlier version of Python
 | 
						|
compared dictionaries by identity only, but this caused surprises
 | 
						|
because people expected to be able to test a dictionary for emptiness
 | 
						|
by comparing it to {\tt \{\}}.}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\item
 | 
						|
Most other types compare unequal unless they are the same object;
 | 
						|
the choice whether one object is considered smaller or larger than
 | 
						|
another one is made arbitrarily but consistently within one
 | 
						|
execution of a program.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\end{itemize}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The operators \verb@in@ and \verb@not in@ test for sequence
 | 
						|
membership: if \var{y} is a sequence, \code{\var{x} in \var{y}} is
 | 
						|
true if and only if there exists an index \var{i} such that
 | 
						|
\code{\var{x} = \var{y}[\var{i}]}.
 | 
						|
\code{\var{x} not in \var{y}} yields the inverse truth value.  The
 | 
						|
exception \verb@TypeError@ is raised when \var{y} is not a sequence,
 | 
						|
or when \var{y} is a string and \var{x} is not a string of length one.%
 | 
						|
\footnote{The latter restriction is sometimes a nuisance.}
 | 
						|
\opindex{in}
 | 
						|
\opindex{not in}
 | 
						|
\indexii{membership}{test}
 | 
						|
\obindex{sequence}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The operators \verb@is@ and \verb@is not@ test for object identity:
 | 
						|
\var{x} \code{is} \var{y} is true if and only if \var{x} and \var{y}
 | 
						|
are the same object.  \var{x} \code{is not} \var{y} yields the inverse
 | 
						|
truth value.
 | 
						|
\opindex{is}
 | 
						|
\opindex{is not}
 | 
						|
\indexii{identity}{test}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\section{Boolean operations} \label{Booleans}
 | 
						|
\indexii{Boolean}{operation}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Boolean operations have the lowest priority of all Python operations:
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\begin{verbatim}
 | 
						|
condition:      or_test | lambda_form
 | 
						|
or_test:        and_test | or_test "or" and_test
 | 
						|
and_test:       not_test | and_test "and" not_test
 | 
						|
not_test:       comparison | "not" not_test
 | 
						|
lambda_form:	"lambda" [parameter_list]: condition
 | 
						|
\end{verbatim}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
In the context of Boolean operations, and also when conditions are
 | 
						|
used by control flow statements, the following values are interpreted
 | 
						|
as false: \verb@None@, numeric zero of all types, empty sequences
 | 
						|
(strings, tuples and lists), and empty mappings (dictionaries).  All
 | 
						|
other values are interpreted as true.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The operator \verb@not@ yields 1 if its argument is false, 0 otherwise.
 | 
						|
\opindex{not}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The condition \var{x} \verb@and@ \var{y} first evaluates \var{x}; if
 | 
						|
\var{x} is false, its value is returned; otherwise, \var{y} is
 | 
						|
evaluated and the resulting value is returned.
 | 
						|
\opindex{and}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The condition \var{x} \verb@or@ \var{y} first evaluates \var{x}; if
 | 
						|
\var{x} is true, its value is returned; otherwise, \var{y} is
 | 
						|
evaluated and the resulting value is returned.
 | 
						|
\opindex{or}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
(Note that \verb@and@ and \verb@or@ do not restrict the value and type
 | 
						|
they return to 0 and 1, but rather return the last evaluated argument.
 | 
						|
This is sometimes useful, e.g. if \verb@s@ is a string that should be
 | 
						|
replaced by a default value if it is empty, the expression
 | 
						|
\verb@s or 'foo'@ yields the desired value.  Because \verb@not@ has to
 | 
						|
invent a value anyway, it does not bother to return a value of the
 | 
						|
same type as its argument, so e.g. \verb@not 'foo'@ yields \verb@0@,
 | 
						|
not \verb@''@.)
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Lambda forms (lambda expressions) have the same syntactic position as
 | 
						|
conditions.  They are a shorthand to create anonymous functions; the
 | 
						|
expression {\em {\tt lambda} arguments{\tt :} condition}
 | 
						|
yields a function object that behaves virtually identical to one
 | 
						|
defined with
 | 
						|
{\em {\tt def} name {\tt (}arguments{\tt ): return} condition}.
 | 
						|
See section \ref{function} for the syntax of
 | 
						|
parameter lists.  Note that functions created with lambda forms cannot
 | 
						|
contain statements.
 | 
						|
\label{lambda}
 | 
						|
\indexii{lambda}{expression}
 | 
						|
\indexii{lambda}{form}
 | 
						|
\indexii{anonmymous}{function}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\section{Expression lists and condition lists}
 | 
						|
\indexii{expression}{list}
 | 
						|
\indexii{condition}{list}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\begin{verbatim}
 | 
						|
expression_list:      or_expr ("," or_expr)* [","]
 | 
						|
condintion_list:      condition ("," condition)* [","]
 | 
						|
\end{verbatim}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The only difference between expression lists and condition lists is
 | 
						|
the lowest priority of operators that can be used in them without
 | 
						|
being enclosed in parentheses; condition lists allow all operators,
 | 
						|
while expression lists don't allow comparisons and Boolean operators
 | 
						|
(they do allow bitwise and shift operators though).
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
Expression lists are used in expression statements and assignments;
 | 
						|
condition lists are used everywhere else where a list of
 | 
						|
comma-separated values is required.
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
An expression (condition) list containing at least one comma yields a
 | 
						|
tuple.  The length of the tuple is the number of expressions
 | 
						|
(conditions) in the list.  The expressions (conditions) are evaluated
 | 
						|
from left to right.  (Condition lists are used syntactically is a few
 | 
						|
places where no tuple is constructed but a list of values is needed
 | 
						|
nevertheless.)
 | 
						|
\obindex{tuple}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The trailing comma is required only to create a single tuple (a.k.a. a
 | 
						|
{\em singleton}); it is optional in all other cases.  A single
 | 
						|
expression (condition) without a trailing comma doesn't create a
 | 
						|
tuple, but rather yields the value of that expression (condition).
 | 
						|
\indexii{trailing}{comma}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
(To create an empty tuple, use an empty pair of parentheses:
 | 
						|
\verb@()@.)
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\section{Summary}
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
The following table summarizes the operator precedences in Python,
 | 
						|
from lowest precedence (least binding) to highest precedence (most
 | 
						|
binding).  Operators in the same box have the same precedence.  Unless
 | 
						|
the syntax is explicitly given, operators are binary.  Operators in
 | 
						|
the same box group left to right (except for comparisons, which
 | 
						|
chain from left to right --- see above).
 | 
						|
 | 
						|
\begin{center}
 | 
						|
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|}
 | 
						|
\hline
 | 
						|
\code{or} & Boolean OR \\
 | 
						|
\hline
 | 
						|
\code{and} & Boolean AND \\
 | 
						|
\hline
 | 
						|
\code{not} \var{x} & Boolean NOT \\
 | 
						|
\hline
 | 
						|
\code{in}, \code{not} \code{in} & Membership tests \\
 | 
						|
\code{is}, \code{is} \code{not} & Identity tests \\
 | 
						|
\code{<}, \code{<=}, \code{>}, \code{>=}, \code{<>}, \code{!=}, \code{=} &
 | 
						|
	Comparisons \\
 | 
						|
\hline
 | 
						|
\code{|} & Bitwise OR \\
 | 
						|
\hline
 | 
						|
\code{\^} & Bitwise XOR \\
 | 
						|
\hline
 | 
						|
\code{\&} & Bitwise AND \\
 | 
						|
\hline
 | 
						|
\code{<<}, \code{>>} & Shifts \\
 | 
						|
\hline
 | 
						|
\code{+}, \code{-} & Addition and subtraction \\
 | 
						|
\hline
 | 
						|
\code{*}, \code{/}, \code{\%} & Multiplication, division, remainder \\
 | 
						|
\hline
 | 
						|
\code{+\var{x}}, \code{-\var{x}} & Positive, negative \\
 | 
						|
\code{\~\var{x}} & Bitwise not \\
 | 
						|
\hline
 | 
						|
\code{\var{x}.\var{attribute}} & Attribute reference \\
 | 
						|
\code{\var{x}[\var{index}]} &  Subscription \\
 | 
						|
\code{\var{x}[\var{index}:\var{index}]} &  Slicing \\
 | 
						|
\code{\var{f}(\var{arguments}...)} & Function call \\
 | 
						|
\hline
 | 
						|
\code{(\var{expressions}\ldots)} & Binding or tuple display \\
 | 
						|
\code{[\var{expressions}\ldots]} & List display \\
 | 
						|
\code{\{\var{key}:\var{datum}\ldots\}} & Dictionary display \\
 | 
						|
\code{`\var{expression}\ldots`} & String conversion \\
 | 
						|
\hline
 | 
						|
\end{tabular}
 | 
						|
\end{center}
 |