[Oops, I forgot to CC python-ideas. Sorry Eric for the double post.] On Sat, Aug 15, 2009 at 8:13 AM, Eric Eisner<ede@mit.edu> wrote:
This patch seems very complete, with only the API to hammered out. Here is my summary of some options:
method names: patch behavior: int.as_bytes / int.frombytes int.as_bytes / int.from_bytes int.asbytes / int.frombytes
In my patch, I chosen to use the name 'as_bytes' because it was consistent with 'float.as_integer_ratio'. Similarly, I chosen the name 'frombytes' because it was consistent with 'float.fromhex'. I don't mind the inconsistent use of the underscore in the names, but I admit there is room for improvement. So, what do you think of `int.frombytes` and `int.tobytes`?
Endianness: patch behavior: default flag: little_endian=False byteorder option accepting 'big' or 'little', this can also accept sys.byteorder
I like the byteorder option better. I believe the byteorder option shouldn't default to use the native byte-order however. As you mentioned, it would be a bad choice to encourage the default behaviour to be platform-dependent. And since the primary purpose of the API is long serialization, it would be short-sighted to choose the option that cannot be used for serialization as the default. Whether it should default to 'little' or 'big' is pretty much an arbitrary choice. In my patch, I choose to default big-endian since it is the standard network byte-order. But maybe the option should default to little-endian instead since it more widely used. In addition, the patch is slightly more efficient with little-endian.
sign: patch behavior: default flag: signed=True maybe unsigned as the default?
Either is fine by me. The advantage with 'signed' as the default is 'signed' works with all longs (and not only with non-negative ones).
byte length: patch behavior: fixed_length=None other names: length, bytelength
I still like `fixed_length` better than proposed alternatives. The name `fixed_length` makes it clear that the returned object has a fixed and constant length. And, I find `fixed_length=None` is more telling than `length=None`. -- Alexandre