Stefan Krah added the comment: Antoine Pitrou <report@bugs.python.org> wrote:
How about "object does not provide a byte buffer" for error messages and "(byte) buffer provider" as a shorthand for "any buffer provider that exposes its memory as a sequence of unsigned bytes in response to a PyBUF_SIMPLE request"?
It's not too bad, I think. However, what I think is important is that the average (non-expert) Python developer understand that the function really accepts a bytes object, and other similar types (because, really, bytes is the only bytes-like type most developers will ever face). That's why I'm proposing "bytes-like object".
If it is somehow possible to establish the term as a shorthand for the real meaning, then I guess it's the most economical option for documenting Python methods (I don't think it should be used in the C-API docs though). help (b''.join) for example would sound better with "bytes-like object" than with "(byte) buffer provider". ---------- _______________________________________ Python tracker <report@bugs.python.org> <http://bugs.python.org/issue16518> _______________________________________