[Python-Dev] The os module, unix and win32

[Guido van Rossum]

> Another possibility: we'd get a lot more mileage out of simply
> adding ctypes to the standard install. That would solve the
> immediate popen problem, let us get rid of _winreg entirely (and
> replace it with a pure Python version), and make future Win32
> problems easier to solve.

I don't know that a Python version of _winreg using ctypes would be
preferable over a C version.  I'd expect it to be slower, less
readable than the C version, and more susceptible to the possibility
of causing segfaults.  (As for speed, I actually have a windows
registry application where speed of access is important.)

That doesn't mean I don't think ctypes is a good idea -- just that I
don't think applying it to _winreg would be useful.

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