[Python-Dev] Activating pymalloc

[Tim Peters]

[Skip Montanaro]
> I think reducing the number of elements per category would also be of
> practical value, if for no other reason than it would reduce the mind
> boggling choice of potential functions for any one operation.

That's why it may be good to get rid of umpteen ways to spell "free".  OTOH,
once you start life with a PyObject_XXX "get memory" function, it grates to
to spell "free memory" via PyMem_{Free, Del}; likewise vice versa.  The
artificial Free/Del distinction there doesn't help anything.

Lapses from orthogonality also complicate life.  For example, there are no
macro spellings for any function in the PyObject_GC_XXX family, but almost
<wink> all other functions in all other familes come in both flavors.  And
while PyObject_GC_ has a Resize function for var objects, the PyObject_ and
new PyMalloc_ families do not.  OTOH, the *non*-object PyMem_XXX family does
have a Resize (as well as a Realloc)!

One simplification:  deprecate the entire PyObject_XXX family.  We
introduced PyMalloc_XXX to do what PyObject_XXX was *supposed* to be used
for; it's "only" backward compatibility that argued for introducing
PyMalloc_XXX instead.  OTOH, deprecating PyObject_XXX isn't a simplification
extension authors are likely to appreciate at first <wink>.