using the or operator in python

[kaarthikeyapreyan]

How does the python interpreter work for the or operator
cause i am a bit confused with its output

>>> s= "unbound method __delitem__() must be called with _Environ instance as first argument (got str instance instead)"
>>> 
>>> if "least" in s:
...   print "hi"
... 
 >>> if "least" or "exactly" in s:
...   print "hi"
... 
hi
>>> if "exactly" in s:
...   print "hi"
... 
>>> 
 

[jlm699]

Python's [or] is not much different from or in other languages. It simply returns the first "True" operand that it is passed. In your case you're using it wrong, because to Python, an empty string is False. As soon as a string has any non-null value it is true. So by saying "least" or "exactly" it will return the first true operand (least).

To use it the way you are attempting you should have the following:

if "least" in s or "exactly" in s:
...  print hi