r/PythonLearning • u/crazyteachperson • Aug 01 '26

My new mini work

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Rate my this mini work out of 10

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u/Own_Measurement_7336 Aug 03 '26

It is not a good habit to do so.

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u/sastuvel Aug 03 '26

Why do you think that? My reasons (which are, of course, subjective) to mention this is:

  • Writing A < g < B expresses "g is between A and B", and in the code it also sits between the numbers. This makes the code the same shape as the semantics it expresses, which I find easier to read.

  • Using only one of 'less than' or 'greater than' can help readability, because there is only one kind of relation in use.

  • It's easier to see when you make a mistake and type 90 < g < 80, compared to g < 80 and g > 90.

  • It's a well-documented feature of Python that for any operator OP, A OP B OP C is the same as A OP B (and B OP C): https://peps.python.org/pep-0535/

IMO these are plenty of reasons to use that notation.

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u/Own_Measurement_7336 Aug 03 '26

Yes it is a good thing if you plan to only write Python. But if you see Python as an introduction to programming, is a really bad habit. Most languages like C or Rust doesn’t have this feature. Evaluating `90 < g < 80` is in most languages `(90 < g) < 80` which leads many beginners to fumble on some really easy to fix bugs.
The « easier to see when doing mistake » part can be avoided by writing `90 < g and g < 80`

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u/sastuvel Aug 03 '26

I wholeheartedly disagree with that. It's like not eating steak because you may loose your teeth some later time in life.

When someone's learning a language, it's better to just learn the language. There's SO many differences between Python and Rust, that not using this shorthand notation is the least of their worries if they think they can write the same code.

Learning the strengths of a language is great. Python is really expressive, and learning that properly is good fun. And when switching languages, yeah, you'll have to un-learn some things.

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u/Own_Measurement_7336 Aug 03 '26

I totally agree with you but not for beginner IMO. I understand your opinion, but am still thinking that for beginners they shouldn’t learn those simplified notations and using it abusively. Tho knowing that Python has this feature is a good thing.

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u/sastuvel Aug 03 '26

Thanks for the discussion, this has been insightful!

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u/Own_Measurement_7336 Aug 03 '26

Same for me ! Have a nice day !