Is False == 0 and True == 1 in Python an implementation detail or guaranteed by the language?
- by EOL
Is it guaranteed that False == 0 and True == 1, in Python? For instance, is it in any way guaranteed that the following code will always produce the same results, whatever the version of Python (existing and in the foreseeable future)?
0 == False # True
1 == True # True
['zero', 'one'][False] # is 'zero'
Any reference to the official documentation would be much appreciated! Other comments would be appreciated too… :)
Edit: As noted in many answers, bool inherits from int. The question can therefore be recast as: "Is this an implementation detail that might change in the future, or does the documentation officially say that programmers can rely on booleans inheriting from integers?". This question is relevant for writing robust code that won't fail because of implementation details!
Edit 2: The original question is still open, I believe (even though I accepted what I thought was the closest answer): even though Python 3 officially recognizes booleans as integers, I have not yet seen any official integer values for False and True… It therefore looks to me like it is best to stay clear from the assumption that False==0 and True==1.
