Inconsistency in Python programming language?

[ichabod801]

It's not an inconsistency. Just because you think it should work a particular way and it doesn't do that consistently doesn't make it inconsistent. It is entirely possible that it doesn't work the way you think it should. You can easily define the intent of those functions in ways that make the observed results consistent. I'm not going to pick one and argue for it, because I'm not Guido and I didn't design Python, so I don't really know. I'm just happy that Guido did design Python, and if parts of it seem odd from my perspective, then I will just roll with it. Because it's not a big deal.