[Python-Dev] Cannot declare the largest integer literal.

[Trent Mick]

>>> i = -2147483648
OverflowError: integer literal too large
>>> i = -2147483648L
>>> int(i)   # it *is* a valid integer literal
-2147483648


As far as I traced back:

Python/compile.c::com_atom() calls
Python/compile.c::parsenumber(s = "2147483648") calls
Python/mystrtoul.c::PyOS_strtol() which

returns the ERANGE errno because it is given 2147483648 (which *is* out of
range) rather than -2147483648.


My question: Why is the minus sign not considered part of the "atom", i.e.
the integer literal? Should it be? PyOS_strtol() can properly parse this
integer literal if it is given the whole number with the minus sign.
Otherwise the special case largest negative number will always erroneously be
considered out of range.

I don't know how the tokenizer works in Python. Was there a design decision
to separate the integer literal and the leading sign? And was the effect on
functions like PyOS_strtol() down the pipe missed?


Trent

--
Trent Mick
trentm@activestate.com