_nr and callbacks Re: Is Stackless Python DEAD?

[Michael Hudson]

"Frederic Giacometti" <frederic.giacometti at arakne.com> writes:

> "Michael Hudson" <mwh at python.net> wrote in message
> news:uady09pkm.fsf at python.net...
> > Martin von Loewis <loewis at informatik.hu-berlin.de> writes:
> >
> > [schnipp]
> > >   * Are the _nr versions functionally completely backwards-compatible?
> > >     If not, why? If yes, why is the original version preserved?
> >
> > I think the originals are just around because the implementation of
> > the _nr variants was tricky and Chris needed something to test
> > against.  Not sure, though.
> 
> From what I understand in the stackless mechanism, the _nr functions are
> used in the Python VM, but cannot be used in C extension callbacks.
> In effect, in C extensions (or when embeding Python), Python must return to
> the C code after executing the callback. So, distinct hybrid functions,
> different from those used by the VM, are still needed.

Huh?  The builtin_foo functions in Python/bltinmodule.c are all
declared static, so you can't call them from C extensions anyway.  You
could grub around in __builtins__ and call them using
PyEval_CallObject or whatever, but do people actually do this?

You could still "call" the _nr variants, but any "call" of a C
function that might end up calling Python code (i.e. almost anything
in the Python C API!)  must[1] actually be structured as a
stack-push-then-return wotsit like I tried (and probably failed) to
explain in the quoted post.

> It's true that stackless introduces an additional level of complexity, and
> that its implementation could be lifted up. These can be the actual reasons
> why this has not been merged...

I think Gordon's post got the nail on the head here.

Cheers,
M.

[1] If continuations are to be allowed to escape from the called
    Python code, anyway.
-- 
  Any form of evilness that can be detected without *too* much effort
  is worth it...  I have no idea what kind of evil we're looking for
  here or how to detect is, so I can't answer yes or no.
                                       -- Guido Van Rossum, python-dev