[Python-Dev] Pickle alternative in stdlib (Was: On breaking modules into packages)

[Jesus Cea]

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On 04/11/10 15:57, Alexander Belopolsky wrote:
> On Thu, Nov 4, 2010 at 10:51 AM, Guido van Rossum <guido at python.org> wrote:
> ..
>>>> Twisted actually tried to preserve pickle compatibility in the bad old days,
>>>> but it was impossible.  Pickles should never really be saved to disk unless
>>>> they contain nothing but lists, ints, strings, and dicts.
>>
>> But *that* set of types can safely be marshalled using the marshal module...
> 
> Not if the instances contain reference cycles.

Moreover, in the docs the marshall module EXPLICITLY says that the
format is undocumented on purpose, and subject to change. Seems a pretty
bad option for persistence, if you expect to read your data back in the
future.

http://docs.python.org/library/marshal.html

"""
This module contains functions that can read and write Python values in
a binary format. The format is specific to Python, but independent of
machine architecture issues (e.g., you can write a Python value to a
file on a PC, transport the file to a Sun, and read it back there).
Details of the format are undocumented on purpose; it may change between
Python versions (although it rarely does).
"""

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