[Python-Dev] PEP 410 (Decimal timestamp): the implementation is ready for a review

[Nick Coghlan]

On Wed, Feb 15, 2012 at 8:29 AM, Barry Warsaw <barry at python.org> wrote:
> My primary concern with the PEP is adding to users confusion when they have to
> handle (at least) 5 different types[*] that represent time in Python.

My key question to those advocating the use of timedelta instead of Decimal:

What should timedelta.total_seconds() return to avoid losing
nanosecond precision?
How should this be requested when calling the API?

The core "timestamp" abstraction is "just a number" that (in context)
represents a certain number of seconds. decimal.Decimal qualifies.
datetime.timedelta doesn't - it's a higher level construct that makes
the semantic context explicit (and currently refuses to interoperate
with other values that are just numbers).

Cheers,
Nick.

-- 
Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at gmail.com   |   Brisbane, Australia