[Python-Dev] Path PEP: some comments

[Giovanni Bajo]

Phillip J. Eby <pje at telecommunity.com> wrote:

>> - ctime() is documented to be unportable: it has different semantics
>> on UNIX and Windows. I believe the class should abstract from these
>> details.
>
> Note that this is the opposite of normal Python policy: Python does
> not attempt to create cross-platform abstractions, but instead
> chooses to expose platform differences.  The Path class
> shouldn't abstract this
> any more than the original *path modules do.


I don't follow. One thing is to provide an interface which totally abstracts
from low-level details. Another is to provide a function which holds different
results depending on the operating system. I'm fine to have different functions
available for different purposes on different platforms, I'm not fine with
having a single function which does different things. Do you have any other
example?

Giovanni Bajo