[Python-Dev] PEP 393 Summer of Code Project

[Terry Reedy]

On 8/24/2011 1:50 PM, "Martin v. Löwis" wrote:

> I'd like to point out that the improved compatibility is only a side
> effect, not the primary objective of the PEP.

Then why does the Rationale start with "on systems only supporting 
UTF-16, users complain that non-BMP characters are not properly supported."?

A Windows user can only solve this problem by switching to *nix.

> The primary objective is the reduction in memory usage.

On average (perhaps). As I understand the PEP, for some strings, Windows 
users will see a doubling of memory usage. Statistically, that doubling 
is probably more likely in longer texts. Ascii-only Python code and 
other limited-to-ascii text will benefit. Typical English business 
documents will see no change as they often have proper non-ascii quotes 
and occasional accented characters, trademark symbols, and other things.

I think you have the objectives backwards. Adding memory is a lot easier 
than switching OSes.

-- 
Terry Jan Reedy