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From: <avi.e.gross@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.python
Subject: RE: A technique from a chatbot
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2024 01:27:00 -0400
Lines: 153
Message-ID: <mailman.59.1712122026.3468.python-list@python.org>
References: <chatbot-20240402181409@ram.dialup.fu-berlin.de>
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I am a tad confused by a suggestion that any kind of GOTO variant is =
bad. The suggestion runs counter to the reality that underneath it all, =
compiled programs are chock full of GOTO variants even for simple things =
like IF-ELSE.

Consider the code here:

>> def first_word_beginning_with_e( list_ ):
>>      for word in list_:
>>          if word[ 0 ]=3D=3D 'e': return word
>>      something_to_be_done_at_the_end_of_this_function()

If instead the function initialized a variable to nothing useful and in =
the loop if it found a word beginning with e and it still contained =
nothing useful, copied it into the variable and then allowed the code to =
complete the loop and finally returned the variable, that would simply =
be a much less efficient solution to the problem and gain NOTHING. There =
are many variants you can come up with and when the conditions are =
complex and many points of immediate return, fine, then it may be =
dangerous. But a single return is fine.

The function does have a flaw as it is not clear what it should do if =
nothing is found. Calling a silly long name does not necessarily return =
anything.

Others, like Thomas, have shown other variants including some longer and =
more complex ways.

A fairly simple one-liner version, not necessarily efficient, would be =
to just use a list comprehension that makes a new list of just the ones =
matching the pattern of starting with an 'e' and then returns the first =
entry or None. This shows the code and test it:

text =3D ["eastern", "Western", "easter"]

NorEaster =3D ["North", "West", "orient"]

def first_word_beginning_with_e( list_ ):
  return(result[0] if (result :=3D [word for word in list_ if =
word[0].lower() =3D=3D 'e']) else None)

print(first_word_beginning_with_e( text ))
print(first_word_beginning_with_e( NorEaster ))

Result of running it on a version of python ay least 3.8 so it supports =
the walrus operator:

eastern
None





-----Original Message-----
From: Python-list =
<python-list-bounces+avi.e.gross=3Dgmail.com@python.org> On Behalf Of =
Thomas Passin via Python-list
Sent: Tuesday, April 2, 2024 3:31 PM
To: python-list@python.org
Subject: Re: A technique from a chatbot

On 4/2/2024 1:47 PM, Piergiorgio Sartor via Python-list wrote:
> On 02/04/2024 19.18, Stefan Ram wrote:
>>    Some people can't believe it when I say that chatbots improve
>>    my programming productivity. So, here's a technique I learned
>>    from a chatbot!
>>    It is a structured "break". "Break" still is a kind of jump,
>>    you know?
>>    So, what's a function to return the first word beginning with
>>    an "e" in a given list, like for example
>> [ 'delta', 'epsilon', 'zeta', 'eta', 'theta' ]
>>
>>    ? Well it's
>> def first_word_beginning_with_e( list_ ):
>>      for word in list_:
>>          if word[ 0 ]=3D=3D 'e': return word
>>
>>    . "return" still can be considered a kind of "goto" statement.
>>    It can lead to errors:
>>
>> def first_word_beginning_with_e( list_ ):
>>      for word in list_:
>>          if word[ 0 ]=3D=3D 'e': return word
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