[Cython] [cython-users] Cython .pxd introspection: listing defined constants

Stefan Behnel stefan_ml at behnel.de
Sun Feb 20 10:26:20 CET 2011


W. Trevor King, 20.02.2011 00:31:
> On Sat, Feb 19, 2011 at 02:04:16PM -0800, Robert Bradshaw wrote:
>> On Sat, Feb 19, 2011 at 1:45 PM, W. Trevor King wrote:
>>> It is unclear to me what `cdef public struct` means.  I think it
>>> should mean "Python bindings can alter this struct's definition",
>>> which doesn't make sense.
>>
>> I think it should mean "this struct is accessible from Python (as X)"
>
> Wouldn't that be "cdef readonly struct X"?

The problem here is that "public" is used differently in different contexts 
- usually "exported at the C level" in this kind of context, with the quirk 
of meaning "modifiable at the Python level" for cdef class attributes.

The potentially clearer "cpdef" means "overridable at the Python level" as 
well as "visible at the Python level", so it doesn't quite match the second 
meaning by itself.

Structs won't be overridable at the Python level, I guess, so cpdef isn't 
quite right. The intention here isn't to export them at the C level either, 
so "public" isn't right.

We could tweak the "cpdef" meaning into "cdef thing mapped to the Python 
level, and overridable if supported in the given context", which would lead 
to broader applicability. Then we could allow

     cpdef readonly struct ...

I think that's a lot clearer than adding to the double meaning of "public". 
I would also prefer if Python accessible cdef class attributes were defined 
using "cpdef". We could potentially make that the preferred way in the future?

Stefan


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