Python - Next Release Questions

[Warren Postma]

> It sounds like there will be two distinct kinds of strings, Unicode
> and ASCII. Do the memory savings available from keeping 8-bit ASCII
> around justify the potential confusion? It seems like a messy thing,
> and there are so few messy things in Python now.


I believe things should be as "simple as they can be, but no simpler". In
that vein, I think abandoning UTF-8 is unecessary and obscure.

Call me an egotistical eurocentric what-have-you, but I'd just as
soon be given a choice, not given UTF-16 only.

I'm eagerly awaiting 1.6 so that the Python for Windows CE product can be
moved
forward, but I would hate to see UTF-8 get dropped. For one thing, you'd
lose
compatibility with 99% of the files on 99% of all Unix systems, which are
all
UTF-8 ascii-only.   And "Transparent" attempts at conversion never truly
are,
you know....

Warren