[Python-Dev] to string or not to string...

[David Ascher]

Recent checkins mean that:

E:\CVS\python\dist\src\PCbuild>python
Python 2.3a0 (#29, May 24 2002, 13:47:58) [MSC 32 bit (Intel)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
 >>> isinstance('foo', string)
True
 >>> import string
 >>> isinstance('foo', string)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
TypeError: isinstance() arg 2 must be a class or type
 >>>

I realize that there isn't a backwards compatibility problem per se, but 
there is something bothersome about the above, I think.  I also am not 
to keen on having to keep "str" and "string" separate, but I don't have 
any better suggestion for the interface name (for that's what "string" is).

Do we want string to be both the module and the interface masquerading 
as a type?

--da

[Trent gets the credit for asking the question -- I'm just the tester =)]