On Sat, Sep 17, 2016 at 09:01:53AM +0000, Spencer Brown wrote:
Currently, calling divmod() on a class with __floordiv__ and __mod__ defined, but not __divmod__ raises a TypeError. Is there any reason why it doesn't fallback to (self // x, self % x)?
Because things get really complex, fast. Does the added complexity pay its own way? I may have some of the details wrong, but I understand the implementation of divmod() is something like this: # pseudo-code for divmod def divmod(a, b): A, B = type(a), type(b) if issubclass(B, A): # Give priority to the reverse dunder version if hasattr(B, '__rdivmod__'): result = B.__rdivmod__(b, a) if result is not NotImplemented: return result if hasattr(A, '__divmod__'): result = A.__divmod__(a, b) if result is not NotImplemented: return result raise TypeError if hasattr(A, '__divmod__'): result = A.__divmod__(a, b) if result is not NotImplemented: return result if hasattr(B, '__rdivmod__'): result = B.__rdivmod__(b, a) if result is not NotImplemented: return result raise TypeError only it will be in C, so probably three or five times as much code :-) Now consider adding a fallback to __floordiv__ and __mod__ as suggested. That adds a lot more complexity: - what if the object has __floordiv__, but not __mod__? Do you try the reversed method, __rmod__, instead? - likewise for NotImplemented? - what if they're None? So let's look at the complexity of the fallback: # reverse dunder version, for when b is a subclass of a rdiv = getattr(B, '__rfloordiv__, None) rmod = getattr(B, '__rmod__, None) if rdiv is not None and rmod is not None: x, y = rdiv(b, a), rmod(b, a) if x is NotImplemented: div = getattr(A, '__floordiv__', None) if div is not None: x = div(a, b) if x is NotImplemented: raise TypeError if y is NotImplemented: mod = getattr(A, '__mod__', None) if mod is not None: y = mod(a, b) if y is NotImplemented: raise TypeError assert NotImplemented not in (x, y) else: # try the __floordiv__ and __mod__ versions, without falling # back to reversed versions ... return (x, y) And then more or less the same for the "standard" case where a has priority over b (i.e. isn't a subclass). So, my estimate is that this will roughly triple the complexity of the divmod() function. Perhaps worse. Oh, and I forgot the case where __divmod__ exists but is None, but I'm not going back to add it in because I'm not even sure where that ought to be tested. Now I daresay we can refactor my naive pseudo-code above, but however you look at it, there's going to be a big jump in complexity for not a lot of benefit. In the case of __ne__ falling back on not __eq__, there is at least an utterly clear and obvious user-expectation that the two methods are linked, and there are no reversed __req__ and __rne__ methods to care about. That's not the case here. Going the other way (fall back to __divmod__ if __floordiv__ or __mod__ is not defined) will probably be not quite as complex, but it will still add a fair amount of complexity. So, *emotionally* I actually do quite like the idea of having divmod fall back to // and %, *and* the other way, but *intellectually* when I think about the complexity and the tests that will be needed to cover all the cases, I have to say "Uh uh, no way!" It may be that the actual C implementation is simpler than I think, in which case maybe this is a reasonable idea, but on the face of it, I think that it will be really hard to get right, add a lot of code, and provide very little benefit. -- Steve