[Python-Dev] [Python-3000] Stabilizing the C API of 2.6 and 3.0

[M.-A. Lemburg]

On 2008-06-03 01:29, Gregory P. Smith wrote:
> On Mon, Jun 2, 2008 at 4:09 PM, Guido van Rossum <guido at python.org> wrote:
> 
>> I will freely admit that I haven't followed this thread in any detail,
>> but if it were up to me, I'd have the 2.6 internal code use PyString
> 
> ...
> 
> Should we read this as a BDFL pronouncement and make it so?
> 
> All that would mean change wise is that trunk r63675 as well as possibly
> r63672 and r63677 would need to be rolled back and this whole discussion
> over if such a big change should have happened would turn into a moot point.

I would certainly welcome reverting the change.

All that's needed to support PyBytes API in 2.x is a set of #defines
that map the new APIs to the PyString names. That's a clean and
easily understandable solution.

Programmers interested in the code
for a PyString API can then still look up the code in stringobject.c,
e.g. to find out how a certain special case is handled or to check
the ref counting - just like they did for years.

Developer who want to start differentiating between mixed byte/text
data and bytes-only can start using PyBytes for byte data.

>> I would also add macros that map the PyBytes_* APIs to PyString_*, but
>> I would not start using these internally except in code newly written
>> for 2.6 and intended to be "in the spirit of 3.0". IOW use PyString
>> for 8-bit strings containing text, and PyBytes for 8-bit strings
>> containing binary data. For 8-bit strings that could contain either
>> text or data, I'd use PyString, in the spirit of 2.x.

-- 
Marc-Andre Lemburg
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