Can you explain how an empty list can be passed in long_total and that's not seen as None?

Question

these steps/checks in long_total are a little confusing...

if a is not None and books and books is not None and b is None:

you need the check 'and books' otherwise the long_total borks when b = books.pop(0) - IndexError: pop from empty list

and later if a is not None and b is None and not books or books is None:

surely if books is None - there are no books..?

def long_total(a=None, b=None, books=None):
    if a is None and b is None and books is None:
        return None
    if a is None and b is None and books is not None:
        a = books.pop(0) #car
        b = books.pop(0) #car(cdr)
        return long_total(a, b, books)
    if a is not None and books and books is not None and b is None: #need to check books otherwise error trying to pop books(0)
        b = books.pop(0) # is you've a returned value
        return long_total(a, b, books)
    if a is not None and b is not None and books is not None:
        return long_total(a+b, None, books) # if you have a product return without b to step above
    if a is not None and b is not None and not books:
        return long_total(a+b, None, None)
    if a is not None and b is None and not books or books is None:
        return a #ultimate answer/returned value

'''

Answer 1 · 2022-06-22T06:50:21Z

June 22, 2022 6:50am

While both are "falsy", an empty list is not equal to None. After all, and empty list is something.

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Ross Coe

Ross Coe

Can you explain how an empty list can be passed in long_total and that's not seen as None?

nakalkucing

nakalkucing

1 Answer

Roger Perelló

Roger Perelló