[Python-Dev] Parrot -- should life imitate satire?

[Guido van Rossum]

> I was thinking a little about a Python/Perl VM merge.  One problem I imagine
> would be difficult to reconcile is the subtle difference in semantics of
> various basic types.  Consider the various bits of Python's (proposed)
> number system that Perl might not have (or want): rationals, automatic
> promotion from machine ints to longs, complex numbers.  These may not work
> well with Perl's semantics.  What about exceptions?  Do Python and Perl have
> similar notions of what exceptional conditions exist?

Actually, this may not be as big a deal as I thought before.  The PVM
doesn't have a lot of knowledge about types built into its instruction
set.  It knows a bit about classes, lists, dicts, but not e.g. about
ints and strings.  The opcodes are mostly very abstract: BINARY_ADD etc.

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)