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I've tried this in 2.5 - 3.2:

--> 'this is a test'.startswith('this')
True
--> 'this is a test'.startswith('this', None, None)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: slice indices must be integers or None or have an __index__
method

The 3.2 docs say this:

str.startswith(prefix[, start[, end]])
Return True if string starts with the prefix, otherwise return False.
prefix can also be a tuple of prefixes to look for. With optional start,
test string beginning at that position. With optional end, stop
comparing string at that position

str.endswith(suffix[, start[, end]])
Return True if the string ends with the specified suffix, otherwise
return False. suffix can also be a tuple of suffixes to look for. With
optional start, test beginning at that position. With optional end, stop
comparing at that position.

Any reason this is not a bug?

~Ethan~

Ethan Furman wrote:

> I've tried this in 2.5 - 3.2:
>
> --> 'this is a test'.startswith('this')
> True
> --> 'this is a test'.startswith('this', None, None)
> Traceback (most recent call last):
> File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
> TypeError: slice indices must be integers or None or have an __index__
> method
>
> The 3.2 docs say this:
>
> str.startswith(prefix[, start[, end]])
> Return True if string starts with the prefix, otherwise return False.
> prefix can also be a tuple of prefixes to look for. With optional start,
> test string beginning at that position. With optional end, stop
> comparing string at that position
>
> str.endswith(suffix[, start[, end]])
> Return True if the string ends with the specified suffix, otherwise
> return False. suffix can also be a tuple of suffixes to look for. With
> optional start, test beginning at that position. With optional end, stop
> comparing at that position.
>
> Any reason this is not a bug?

It's a wart at the very least. The same thing happened in Python2 with
range and xrange; there seemed no way to explicitly pass "default"
arguments.

Mel.

In article <mailman.2136.1306451668.9059.python->,
Ethan Furman <> wrote:

> --> 'this is a test'.startswith('this')
> True
> --> 'this is a test'.startswith('this', None, None)
> Traceback (most recent call last):
> File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
> TypeError: slice indices must be integers or None or have an __index__
> method
[...]
> Any reason this is not a bug?

+1 for it being a bug.

Roy Smith, 27.05.2011 03:13:
> Ethan Furman wrote:
>
>> --> 'this is a test'.startswith('this')
>> True
>> --> 'this is a test'.startswith('this', None, None)
>> Traceback (most recent call last):
>> File "<stdin>", line 1, in<module>
>> TypeError: slice indices must be integers or None or have an __index__
>> method
> [...]
>> Any reason this is not a bug?
>
> +1 for it being a bug.

Meaning that the right thing to do at this point is to file a bug report.

Stefan

In article <mailman.2144.1306471679.9059.python->,
Stefan Behnel <> wrote:

> Roy Smith, 27.05.2011 03:13:
> > Ethan Furman wrote:
> >
> >> --> 'this is a test'.startswith('this')
> >> True
> >> --> 'this is a test'.startswith('this', None, None)
> >> Traceback (most recent call last):
> >> File "<stdin>", line 1, in<module>
> >> TypeError: slice indices must be integers or None or have an __index__
> >> method
> > [...]
> >> Any reason this is not a bug?
> >
> > +1 for it being a bug.
>
> Meaning that the right thing to do at this point is to file a bug report.

And now we just need to figure out if it's a bug in the code or the
documentation