[Python-Dev] A little GC confusion

[Tim Peters]

[Jeremy Hylton]
> 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.

I agree that at this point Guido is the only one who fully understands what
they were all *intended* to mean, but I don't believe even Guido can tell
you (without the same kinds of study and experimentation and hair-pulling
you're doing) what the flags actually do today in all circumstances and
combinations.  A consequence is that neither can he (or anyone else) always
predict what you need to do to get a desired result.

What shipped in 2.2 was solid to the extent that it supported everything
used by the Python core.  You and David are pushing it in other directions,
and while it was intended to support them, this stuff was never really
*tried* at the C level beyond the demo xxsubtype.c module and some
ExtensionClass fiddling.  Most "weird experiments" were tried at the Python
level instead, just because it's so much more time-efficient to try stuff in
Python, and time was in short supply.

So you're pioneers, and you've got to draw your own maps of the new
territory.  Luckily, God isn't resting yet, so He can still create new
lifeforms if needed <wink>.

> 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.

Yup, all kinds of questions get answered by "does it have HEAPTYPE?" that
don't have any obvious connection to heaps.  One of my favorites is this
seemingly straightforward branch in type_repr():

	if (type->tp_flags & Py_TPFLAGS_HEAPTYPE)
		kind = "class";
	else
		kind = "type";

The philosophical questions that raises could go on for pages <wink>.