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I am calling a method on an object and I want the returned value to be assigned to the object itself. Is there a proper programming idiom for this?

The example I am using is this:

d = "2007-07-18 10:03:19"
d.split()[0]

However split doesn't change the original.

The other way:

d = d.split()[0]

Seems rather clunky. Is there a cleaner way or is this just the way it is?

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  • That is just the way it is. Commented May 29, 2013 at 4:36

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No, you are using a string, which is immutable, so you can't mutate its value.

Is there a proper programming idiom for this?

You are already using it, however to be more efficient you may use d=d.split(None, 1)[0] since you only need the first part, but what you are doing is sufficient anyway.

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In a bit different scenario, x=list(d) and then working with x might be sensible. I think.

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