[Python-Dev] Re: Another approach for the import mechanism

[Bob Kline]

On Mon, 9 Dec 2002, Chermside, Michael wrote:

> I think this proposal would make sense IF compression were an
> important goal here. But to me, it isn't. Zip does two things... it
> aggregates into a single file (maintaining directory structure) and
> it compresses. Of the two, I find the aggregation important and the
> compression a mere side effect.

Our *three* chief weapons are ....  Oops, wrong show.

Zip (and tar + bzip2/gzip) provide at least three services:
  1. aggregation
  2. compression
  3. integrity validation (CRC, etc.)

I'm leaving off encryption, so someone else can continue with the SI
gag.

Some do a better job than others at letting you get to the rest of the
archive if one spot is corrupted.

> Basically, disk space is cheap ...

True in many contexts, but not all.  And the differences in compression
ratios between zip and bzipped tar can be surprisingly significant.

-- 
Bob Kline
mailto:bkline@rksystems.com
http://www.rksystems.com