Proposed PEP: Treating Builtins as Constants in the Standard Library

[Carl Banks]

Raymond Hettinger wrote:
> PEP: 329
> Title: Treating Builtins as Constants in the Standard Library
> Author: Raymond Hettinger <python at rcn.com>
> Status: Pre-PEP
> 
> 
> Abstract
> ========
> 
> This proposal is to add a private function for treating builtin
> references as constants and to apply that function throughout
> the standard library.




Two things:

1. The new _bind module needs to have a more specific (and
   appropriate) name than _bind.  The function in the module could
   still be named bind, but the module itself should be named
   something like

   _optimize_globals_as_consts_very_unsafe

   (Ok, but you get the idea.)

2. The module being optimized should have a special attribute, say
   __variable__, that identifies any globals that should not be
   optimized in this way:

   __variable__ = ['global_that_might_change']


Other than that, +1.  I'm definitely in favor of optimization hacks
whenever it doesn't intrude too much on the code.  It would be nice if
it were safer.


-- 
CARL BANKS                      http://www.aerojockey.com/software
"If you believe in yourself, drink your school, stay on drugs, and
don't do milk, you can get work." 
          -- Parody of Mr. T from a Robert Smigel Cartoon