[Python-Dev] Stackless Python

[Phillip J. Eby]

At 07:06 AM 6/2/04 -0700, Guido van Rossum wrote:
>Stackless is *not* a minor change to Python, and that it severely 
>restricts the
>ways in which Python can interact with other systems, be they hardware
>platforms, software frameworks, or 3rd party extensions.

It's definitely not a minor change, but I think that the severe 
restrictions comment may perhaps be inaccurate.  My understanding at this 
point from Bob and Christian is that for tasklets (which are apparently 
what most people want from Stackless), the code is portable, pure C, and 
has no effect on code that doesn't use tasklets, except in performance.

However, rather than continue discussion on this point, it would probably 
be better if the people who actually understand the Stackless 
implementation were to write a tasklets PEP addressing what *specifically* 
would be the *minimum* changes to the CPython interpreter to support 
co-operative multitasking.

By specifically, I mean listing what core functions/objects will be 
changed, and how those changes will impact other code.  Do any 
interfaces/APIs change?  Is there anything that people writing new core 
code or extensions have to be aware of?  And so on.  A full statement of 
impact, in other words.  At that point, a pronouncement could be made on 
the basis of those specifics, and if the answer is no, then the PEP would 
provide a convenient place to point people to in the future, thus avoiding 
further reiterations of this discussion.  And, in the meanwhile, it gives 
you and Martin a way to tell the other folks to "PEP up or shut up".  :)