How should I handle inclusive ranges in Python?

Question

I am working in a domain in which ranges are conventionally described inclusively. I have human-readable descriptions such as from A to B , which represent rang

Answer 1

Since in Python, the ending index is always exclusive, it's worth considering to always use the "Python-convention" values internally. This way, you will save yourself from mixing up the two in your code.

Only ever deal with the "external representation" through dedicated conversion subroutines:

def text2range(text):
    m = re.match(r"from (\d+) to (\d+)",text)
    start,end = int(m.groups(1)),int(m.groups(2))+1

def range2text(start,end):
    print "from %d to %d"%(start,end-1)

Alternatively, you can mark the variables holding the "unusual" representation with the true Hungarian notation.