[Python-Dev] Backwards incompatible sys.stdout.write() behavior in Python 3 (Was: [Python-ideas] Pythonic buffering in Py3 print())

[Terry Reedy]

On 1/17/2012 5:59 AM, anatoly techtonik wrote:

> 1. print() buffers output on Python3
> 2. print() also buffers output on Python2, but only on Linux

No, print() does not buffer output. It merely sends it to a file.

> 4. print() is not guilty - it is sys.stdout.write() that buffers output

Oh, you already know that 1&2 are false.

So is 4, if interpreted as saying that sys.stdout.write() *will* buffer 
output. sys.stdout can be *any* file-like object. Its .write method 
*may* buffer output, or it *may not*. With IDLE, it does not. We have 
been over this before. At your instigation, the doc has been changed to 
make this clearer. At your request, a new feature has been added to 
force flushing. By most people's standards, you won.

-- 
Terry Jan Reedy