[Python-Dev] Behavior of buffer()

[Raymond Hettinger]

I would like to solicit py-dev's thoughts on the best way to resolve a bug,
www.python.org/sf/546434 .

The root problem is that mybuf[:] returns a buffer type and mybuf[2:4]
returns a string type.  A similar issue exists for buffer repetition.

One way to go is to have the slices always return a string.  If code
currently relies on the type of a buffer slice, it is more likely to be
relying on it being a string as in:  print mybuf[:4].  This is an intuitive
guess because I can't find empirical evidence.  Another reason to choose a
string return type is that buffer() appears to have been designed to be as
stringlike as possible so that it can be easily substituted in code
originally designed for strings.

The other way to go is to return a buffer object everytime.  Slices usually,
but not always (see subclasses of list), return the same type that was being
sliced.  If we choose this route, another issue remains -- mybuf[:] returns
self instead of a new buffer.  I think that behavior is also a bug and
should be changed to be consistent with the Python idiom where:
  b = a[:]
  assert id(a) != id(b)

Incidental to the above, GvR had a thought that slice repetition ought to
always return an error.  Though I don't see any use cases for buffer
repetition, bufferobjects do implement all other sequence behaviors and I
think it would be weird to nullify the sq_repeat slot.

I appreciate your thoughts on the best way to proceed.

fixing-bugs-is-easier-than-deciding-appropriate-behavior-ly yours,


'regnitteh dnomyar'[::-1]