Shouldn't this be on python-ideas? S On Oct 20, 2009, at 9:15 AM, Stefan Krah wrote:
Hi,
as some of you know, recently I've released an arbitrary precision C library for decimal arithmetic together with a Python module:
http://www.bytereef.org/libmpdec.html http://www.bytereef.org/fastdec.html
Both the library and the module have been tested extensively. Fastdec currently differs from decimal.py in a couple of ways that could be fixed. The license is AGPL, but if there is interest in integrating it into Python I'd release it under a Python-compatible license.
There have been several approaches towards getting C decimal arithmetic into Python:
http://bugs.python.org/issue2486
Fastdec follows Raymond Hettinger's suggestion to provide wrappers for an independent C implementation. Arguments in favour of fastdec are:
* Complete implementation of Mike Cowlishaw's specification
* C library can be tested independently
* Redundant arithmetic module for tests against decimal.py
* Faster than Java BigDecimal
* Compares relatively well in speed against gmpy
To be clear, I would not want to _replace_ decimal.py. Rather I'd like to see a cdecimal module alongside decimal.py.
I know that ultimately there should be a PEP for module inclusions. The purpose of this post is to gauge interest. Specifically:
1. Are you generally in favour of a C decimal module in Python?
2. Would fastdec - after achieving full decimal.py compatibility - be a serious candidate?
3. Could I use this list to settle a couple of questions, or would perhaps a Python developer be willing to work with me to make it compatible? I'm asking this to avoid doing work that would not find acceptance afterwards.
Thanks,
Stefan Krah
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