[Python-Dev] PEP 393: Flexible String Representation

["Martin v. Löwis"]

>> I'd like to propose PEP 393, which takes a different approach,
>> addressing both problems simultaneously: by getting a flexible
>> representation (one that can be either 1, 2, or 4 bytes), we can
>> support the full range of Unicode on all systems, but still use
>> only one byte per character for strings that are pure ASCII (which
>> will be the majority of strings for the majority of users).
> 
> For this kind of experiment, I think a concrete attempt at implementing
> (together with performance/memory savings numbers) would be much more
> useful than an abstract proposal.

I partially agree. An implementation is certainly needed, but there is
nothing wrong (IMO) with designing the change before implementing it.
Also, several people have offered to help with the implementation, so
we need to agree on a specification first (which is actually cheaper
than starting with the implementation only to find out that people
misunderstood each other).

Regards,
Martin