[Python-Dev] Draft PEP to make file objects support non-blocking mode.

[Eric Nieuwland]

Donovan Baarda wrote:
> The fact that partial reads/writes are possible without non-blocking
> mode changes things a fair bit. Also, the lack of fnctl support in
> Windows needs to be taken into account too.
>
> ... [ snip ] ...
>
> The lack of support on win32 for non-blocking mode, combined with the
> reduced need for it, makes adding a "setblocking" method undesirable.
>
> I don't know what the best thing to do now is... I guess the
> readsome/writesome is probably best, but given that os.read/os.write is
> not that bad, perhaps it's best to just forget I even suggested this
> PEP :-)

My EUR 0.01 is that we should aim at a higher level of abstraction.

I really don't care Windows, Unix, Linux, WhateverOS provide me with a 
specific low level service. I care about the conceptual thing I'm 
trying to establish. Any abstraction that provides a means to express a 
solution more closely to that conceptual level is a winner.

--eric