[Python-Dev] Re: 64-bit process optimization 1

[Mats Wichmann]

 >So perhaps the refcnt should have been a long in the first place.  A
 >similar argument may hold for the length of e.g. strings and lists:
 >one could wish to have a list of more than 2 billion elements, or a
 >string containing more than 2 gigabytes (that much RAM is easily found
 >on the larger 64-bit servers, I believe).
 >
 >Opinions?

If you change to longs it seems the reported
performance increase goes away, which would
seem to eliminate one of the motivations for
accepting the pain of a binary incompatibility.

Leaving just "getting it right".

Mats