David wrote:
Dear list readers,
the command find() takes two parameters, start and end, e.g.:
find(substring[, start[, end]]).
Here, a substring is located UP TO BUT NOT INCLUDING the optional
parameter 'end'.
Compare this to replace(). replace() comes with the count argument, e.g.:
replace(old, new[, count])
But here the substring is replaced UP TO AND INCLUDING to the optional
argument count.
My question is how I am best to make sense of this discrepancy. Is there
any logic behind this that might make my life easier once I become aware
of it? I know of the indexing rules, but this here is obviously not the
same. I am curious...
The two functions do different things, they work differently, they take
different arguments.
replace takes an inclusive `count` parameter because that's the most
sensible and obvious way to implement a count parameter. "I want to
replace the first five words" suggests a count parameter of 5, not 6. A
count of 1 should replace 1 time, not 0 times.
The start and end parameters of find work like slices, where the
arguments act to slice *between* items:
0.1.2.3.4.5.6
|a|b|c|d|e|f|
So, completely different, and there's no discrepancy.
As for the question why replace doesn't take a start and end argument
like find, *shrug* perhaps it should. But it already has three
parameters, another two will start overloading it.
--
Steven
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