[Python-Dev] PEP 393: Flexible String Representation

[Stefan Behnel]

"Martin v. Löwis", 29.01.2011 10:05:
>>> None of the functions in this PEP become part of the stable ABI.
>>
>> I think that's only part of the truth. This PEP can potentially have an
>> impact on the stable ABI in the sense that the build-time size of
>> Py_UNICODE may no longer be important for extensions that work on
>> unicode buffers in the future as long as they only use the 'str' pointer
>> and not 'wstr'.
>
> Py_UNICODE isn't part of the stable ABI, so it wasn't important for
> extensions using the stable ABI before - so really no change here.

I know, that's not what I meant. But this PEP would enable a C API that 
provides direct access to the underlying buffer. Just as is currently 
provided for the Py_UNICODE array, but with a stable ABI because the buffer 
type won't change based on build time options.

OTOH, one could argue that this is already partly provided by the generic 
buffer API.

Stefan