[Python-Dev] A little GC confusion
Jeremy Hylton
jeremy@alum.mit.edu
Fri, 22 Feb 2002 22:51:28 -0500
[David Abrahams]
> I /guess/ there's a bug in my code if you measure it against the standard
> that says "if it doesn't work with the current Python source code, it's
> buggy". I'd consider that standard a bit more legitimate if I could find,
> for example, a mention of Py_TPFLAGS_HEAPTYPE *anywhere* in the
> Python docs.
I've been struggling with the meaning of the various TPFLAGS myself. I
don't think it's documented anywhere, and I don't think anyone except Guido
really understands what all the flags mean.
One property of types that do not have define HEAPTYPE is that their
__module__ attribute is always __builtin__. This makes them mighty hard to
pickle. It further suggests that every type that isn't a builtin type
should define HEAPTYPE.
There are lots of other cases affected by HEAPTYPE. I imagine you've done
the same grep that I did.
Jeremy