[Python-Dev] Socket timeout patch

[Guido van Rossum]

[Guido]
> > - Should sock.settimeout(0.0) mean the same as sock.setblocking(0)?
> >   Currently it sets a timeout of zero seconds, and that behaves pretty
> >   much the same as setting the socket in nonblocking mode -- but not
> >   exactly.  Maybe these should be made the same?

[GregE]
> I'd say no. Someone might want the current behaviour,
> whatever it is -- and if they don't, they can always
> make it properly non-blocking. Don't make a special
> case unless it's absolutely necessary.

Why would someone want the current (as of last night) behavior?  IMO
it's useless.  The distinction with non-blocking mode is very minimal.

[Neal]
> Another possibility would be to make settimeout(0.0) equivalent to
> settimeout(None), ie disable timeouts.

Hm, but a zero really does smell more of non-blocking than of
blocking.  It would also be inconsistent with the timeout argument to
select(), which currently uses None for blocking, 0 for non-blocking,
and other positive numbers for a timeout in seconds -- just like
settimeout().

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