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Also, on Smalltalk (which influenced python) there is no switch statement as well. On the other hand, Smalltalk has no if, while, for statements as well (they a

• gecko 15y ago
  While Smalltalk doesn't have case statements, a) it's trivial to add them, and b) the way you get around it is totally different: rather than use a Dictionary, you instead generally make a pile of tiny classes, each with a fooBar: method, and then simply make sure you've got the right object type and call fooBar: on it indiscriminately--in other words, basically your classic visitor pattern. That's totally possible in Python, too, but I don't really ever see it done.
  • datashaman 15y ago
    I like to use defaultdict for this. A strategy dictionary, with a default strategy. dispatch = defaultdict(default_stategy) dispatch['one'] = new_strategy print dispatch['two'] => default_strategy. Beats case statements and elif chains.
    • zeekay 15y ago
      I usually just provide a default argument to get: dispatch.get('two', default_strategy)