Possible to write a Unicode*like* object?

[Alex Martelli]

Just wrote:
   ...
> I'm not sure sure myself, either... I think an example could be: can I
> write a class (in C) that will be treated just like a unicode object, eg
> when doing pattern matching with re?

You can inherit from unicode, of course -- whether that would
be sufficient for your purpose, I don't know, as it's quite
possible that modules such as re would bypass your overrides.

> I tend to think we shouldn't even try this and we should simply build a
> true unicode object, but there are voices in the project that say we
> should avoid the conversion at all cost. I wouldn't be too unhappy about

Hmmm, have those other voices read Knuth's ideas about premature
optimization...?  If actual measurements say things are too slow,
that's another issue, of course.


Alex