Eric V. Smith <e...@trueblade.com> added the comment: The error message is correct, but I'm sorry it's confusing.
Here's an equivalent error: a, b = 3 You'll get the error "TypeError: 'int' object is not iterable". That's because Python sees 2 items to the left of the assignment, so it needs to extract 2 items from the right side. To get 2 values from the right side, it iterates over the right side. In this case, 3 cannot be iterated over, thus the error message. Now consider: a, b = 3, 4 Again, to get 2 items from the right side, Python iterates over it. In this case the thing on the right side is a 2 element tuple. It's a little confusing that it's a tuple because it doesn't have parentheses, but the comma between 3 and 4 makes it a tuple. In this case, Python can iterate over the tuple, and the tuple has exactly 2 elements, so the assignment to a and b succeeds with a = 3 and b = 4. I hope that clears it up. ---------- nosy: +eric.smith resolution: -> not a bug stage: -> resolved status: open -> closed _______________________________________ Python tracker <rep...@bugs.python.org> <https://bugs.python.org/issue32259> _______________________________________ _______________________________________________ Python-bugs-list mailing list Unsubscribe: https://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-bugs-list/archive%40mail-archive.com