[Python-Dev] proposal: add basic time type to the standard library

[Jim Fulton]

Guido van Rossum wrote:
> 
> [Tim]
> > Are you sure Jim is looking to replace the TimeStamp object?  All the
> > complaints I've seen aren't about the relatively tiny TimeStamp object, but
> > about Zope's relatively huge DateTime class (note that you won't have source
> > for that if you're looking at a StandaloneZODB checkout -- DateTime is used
> > at higher Zope levels), which is a Python class with a couple dozen(!)
> > instance attributes.  See, e.g.,
> >
> >     http://dev.zope.org/Wikis/DevSite/Proposals/ReplacingDateTime
> >
> > It seems clear from the source code that TimeStamp is exactly what Jim
> > intended it to be <wink>.
> 
> I'm notoriously bad at channeling Jim.  Nevertheless, I do recall him
> saying he wanted a lightweight time object.  I think the mistake of
> DateTime is that it stores the broken-out info, rather than computing
> it on request.

I don't think the mistake was so much to store broken-out info, 
but to store too much data in general. It stores redundant data, which
makes it's implementation a bit difficult to understand and maintain.

Note that scalability was not a goal of Zope's DateTime type. We meant
to replace it with something much tighter a long time ago, but never
got around to it.


> > > Your idea of a base type (which presumably standarizes at least one
> > > form of representation) sounds like a breakthrough that can help
> > > satisfy different other needs.
> >
> > Best I can make out, /F is only proposing what Jim would call an Interface:
> > the existence of two methods, timetuple() and utctimetuple().  In a comment
> > on his page, /F calls it an "abstract" base class, which is more C++-ish
> > terminology, and the sample implementation makes clear it's a "pure"
> > abstract base class, so same thing as a Jim Interface in the end.

Yup.
 
> I'll show the PEP to Jim when it appears.

Thanks. ;)

BTW, has there been any progress on this?

Jim

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