[I18n-sig] Re: [Python-Dev] Pre-PEP: Python Character Model

[Martin v. Loewis]

> If we simply allowed string objects to support higher character
> numbers I *cannot see* how that could break existing code.

To take a specific example: What would you change about imp and
py_compile.py? What is the type of imp.get_magic()? If character
string, what about this fragment?

import imp
MAGIC = imp.get_magic()

def wr_long(f, x):
    """Internal; write a 32-bit int to a file in little-endian order."""
    f.write(chr( x        & 0xff))
    f.write(chr((x >> 8)  & 0xff))
    f.write(chr((x >> 16) & 0xff))
    f.write(chr((x >> 24) & 0xff))
...
    fc = open(cfile, 'wb')
    fc.write('\0\0\0\0')
    wr_long(fc, timestamp)
    fc.write(MAGIC)

Would that continue to write the same file that the current version
writes?

> We are just making life harder for ourselves by walking further and
> further down one path when "everyone agrees" that we are eventually
> going to end up on another path.

I think a problem of discussing on a theoretical level is that the
impact of changes is not clear. You seem to claim that you want
changes that have zero impact on existing programs. Can you provide a
patch implementing these changes, so that others can experiment and
find out whether their application would break?

Regards,
Martin