Treating Python binary operators as values

Question

This must be a FAQ, but I spent five minutes searching, and couldn't find it. In Python, how can I obtain the value that corresponds to a binary operator?

To be more specific; here's an apply-to-8-and-9 function:

def apply_to_8_and_9(fun):
  return fun(8,9)

Now, suppose I want to pass the < function to apply-to-8-and-9. I can do this:

apply_to_8_and_9(lambda a,b: a < b)

... but I'd really rather not have to eta-expand the < operator. Is there some way to avoid this?

Thanks!

Afaik Python does not support eta-reduction (syntactically)... — Willem Van Onsem, Mar 14 '17 at 21:41

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 14 '17 at 21:41

2

Use the operator module. < in particular is operator.lt.

>>> import operator
>>> help(operator.lt)
Help on built-in function lt in module _operator:

lt(...)
    lt(a, b) -- Same as a<b.

answered Mar 14 '17 at 21:41

TigerhawkT3

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stack overflow tells me not to thank you.... :) – John Clements Mar 14 '17 at 22:35

Treating Python binary operators as values

1 Answers1