4 ms·

I could have sworn I have written range(1,stop) many times in Python. Did I misunderstand your argument, or has my memory gone all sideways?

• progval 7y ago
  range(a) means range(start=0, end=a) range(a, b) means range(start=a, end=b)
• bakery2k 7y ago
  `range(stop)` and `range(1, stop)` are both supported, but without overloading, the implementation of `range` is messy as it has to work out the meaning of each argument manually.
  • skrebbel 7y ago
    Why is that a problem? I want the standard library to contain all messy stuff so my code doesn't have to. From the call site there's no difference between Python's optional-first-argument range() function and a hypothetical overloaded one. Any perceived complexity in usage, therefore, can be fixed with better documentation.
    • bakery2k 7y ago
      `range` is an example. Lack of support for overloading makes it harder to replicate its API in our own functions.
      • skrebbel 7y ago
        Ah right, totally misunderstood. Yep, true. Overloading is nice.