[Python-Dev] Strategy for converting the decimal module to C

[Georg Brandl]

Raymond Hettinger wrote:
> Aahz wrote:
>> On Tue, Jul 18, 2006, Raymond Hettinger wrote:
>>   
>>> P.S.  The dictionary approach to context objects should likely be
>>> abandoned for the C version.  If the API has to change a bit, then so
>>> be it.
>>>     
>>
>> Why do you say that?  The rest I agree with; seems to me that making a
>> small wrapper for dict access works well, too.
>>   
> I think it was tripping-up the folks working on the C implementation. 
> Georg can speak to it more directly.  IIRC, the issue was that the
> context object exposed a dictionary which a user could update directly
> and there was no notification back to the surrounding object so it could
> update an underlying bitfield representation.

Yes, that's exactly what the problem was. Working with bitfields internally
is fine as long as Python code doesn't want to change the dicts exposed
as a wrapper.

>  If the current approach
> gets in their way, the C implementers should feel free to make an
> alternate design choice.

+1. (cDecimal is an ugly name, but a sound concept)

I don't know what progress Mateusz' work has made until now, but he wrote
at one time that he would "start optimizing as soon as he's certain that
it works".

Georg