Question

HI !

I guess everything is in the question …
I was just wondering if there is a nice way in Python to shorten this pattern :

something = get_something()
if something:
    do_a_thing_with(something)

Meaning that I would like to enter in the if context only if the variable something is not None (or False), and then in this context having this variable set automatically ! Is it possible with with statement ?

PS : I don’t want to have to DEFINE more stuff… I am looking for some statement to use on the fly ?!

Answer 1

This is as pythonic as it gets.

Things should be no more simplified than they are and no more complex than they should be.

See how the with statement works and providing a context guard. would be complicated enough.

• http://effbot.org/pyref/with.htm
• http://effbot.org/pyref/context-managers.htm