[Python-Dev] Parrot -- should life imitate satire?
Guido van Rossum
guido@zope.com
Tue, 31 Jul 2001 13:08:47 -0400
> I was thinking a little about a Python/Perl VM merge. One problem I imagine
> would be difficult to reconcile is the subtle difference in semantics of
> various basic types. Consider the various bits of Python's (proposed)
> number system that Perl might not have (or want): rationals, automatic
> promotion from machine ints to longs, complex numbers. These may not work
> well with Perl's semantics. What about exceptions? Do Python and Perl have
> similar notions of what exceptional conditions exist?
Actually, this may not be as big a deal as I thought before. The PVM
doesn't have a lot of knowledge about types built into its instruction
set. It knows a bit about classes, lists, dicts, but not e.g. about
ints and strings. The opcodes are mostly very abstract: BINARY_ADD etc.
--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)