You should write :
if (self.a != 0) and (self.b != 0) :
“&” is the bit wise operator and does not suit for boolean operations. The equivalent of “&&” is “and” in Python.
A shorter way to check what you want is to use the “in” operator :
if 0 not in (self.a, self.b) :
You can check if anything is part of a an iterable with “in”, it works for :
- Tuples. I.E :
"foo" in ("foo", 1, c, etc)will return true - Lists. I.E :
"foo" in ["foo", 1, c, etc]will return true - Strings. I.E :
"a" in "ago"will return true - Dict. I.E :
"foo" in {"foo" : "bar"}will return true
As an answer to the comments :
Yes, using “in” is slower since you are creating an Tuple object, but really performances are not an issue here, plus readability matters a lot in Python.
For the triangle check, it’s easier to read :
0 not in (self.a, self.b, self.c)
Than
(self.a != 0) and (self.b != 0) and (self.c != 0)
It’s easier to refactor too.
Of course, in this example, it really is not that important, it’s very simple snippet. But this style leads to a Pythonic code, which leads to a happier programmer (and losing weight, improving sex life, etc.) on big programs.