[Python-Dev] Re: Re: Int FutureWarnings and other 2.4 TODOs

[Phillip J. Eby]

At 09:36 AM 12/4/03 -0500, Andrew Koenig wrote:
>So here's the strategy:  If the low-order bit of an integer is *off*, it's
>really a pointer to the rest of the implementation.  If the low-order bit is
>*on*, then it represents an integral value that can be obtained by doing a
>one-bit arithmetic right shift.
>
>Yes, it's sleazy.  But I imagine it would be much faster than using
>inheritance.

I imagine it wouldn't, because it'd add an extra test to not only every 
Py_INCREF and Py_DECREF, but every PyObject_something call.