Flatten Array in Python without language specific

flatten_array_example.py

def flatten_array(array, result=None):
    """
    Flatten a given array of arbitrarily nested arrays of integers.
        e.g. [[1,2,[3]],4] -> [1,2,3,4]
    :param array: Input array to flatten
    :param result: Starting result array. Can be omitted.
    :return: Flattened array
    """
    try:
        if not isinstance(array, list) and not isinstance(array, (int, long)):
            print 'array parameter is not in appropriate format'
            return []
        if not isinstance(result, list):
            result = []
        for item in array:
            if isinstance(item, list):
                flatten_array(item, result)
            elif not isinstance(item, (int, long)):
                print 'array element \'{}\' is not numeric'.format(item)
                return []
            else:
                result.append(item)
        return result
    except Exception, e:
        print e
        return []


# Example usage
print flatten_array([[1, 2, [3]], 4])
print flatten_array([1, 2, [3, [4, 5, [6, 7]], [8]]])
print flatten_array('something')
print flatten_array([1, 2, [3], 'a', [4]])