[Python-Dev] stat module in C -- what to do with stat.py?

[Daniel Holth]

cffi makes this kind of constant-grabbing very easy. However this is a
tiny module so no problem with having a C version.

On Thu, Jun 20, 2013 at 11:04 AM, Thomas Wouters <thomas at python.org> wrote:
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jun 20, 2013 at 8:01 AM, Brett Cannon <brett at python.org> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jun 20, 2013 at 10:14 AM, Eric V. Smith <eric at trueblade.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> On 6/20/2013 9:40 AM, Nick Coghlan wrote:
>>> > On 20 June 2013 23:29, Christian Heimes <christian at python.org> wrote:
>>> >> Am 20.06.2013 15:21, schrieb Florent:
>>> >>> we already have "_pyio.py", we could have "_pystat.py".
>>> >>
>>> >> Works for me.
>>> >
>>> > I suggest following the guidelines in PEP 399 for cross implementation
>>> > compatibility of the standard library:
>>> > http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0399/#details
>>> >
>>> > 1. Keep stat.py
>>> > 2. Make the C version "_stat"
>>> > 3. Add the following to the end of stat.py:
>>> >
>>> >     try:
>>> >         from _stat import *
>>> >     except ImportError:
>>> >         pass
>>> >
>>> > Run the tests with and without the C module in the test suite (again,
>>> > as per PEP 399).
>>>
>>> Agreed with the above.
>>>
>>> But isn't the real problem with this module in Python the fact that the
>>> constants might be wrong? I'm not sure what, if anything, we can do
>>> about that.
>>
>>
>> There isn't anything we can do beyond at least trying to provide
>> reasonable defaults when something better isn't available (which is what the
>> stats module has done all this time). It might make testing difficult for
>> the Python code when the C code has the right values, but I don't think it's
>> necessarily worth tossing out the Python code as backup.
>
>
> If the .py file is going to be wrong or incomplete, why would we want to
> keep it -- or use it as fallback -- at all? If we're dead set on having a
> .py file instead of requiring it to be part of the interpreter (whichever
> that is, however it was built), it should be generated as part of the build
> process. Personally, I don't see the value in it; other implementations will
> need to do *something* special to use it anyway.
>
> --
> Thomas Wouters <thomas at python.org>
>
> Hi! I'm an email virus! Think twice before sending your email to help me
> spread!
>
> _______________________________________________
> Python-Dev mailing list
> Python-Dev at python.org
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev
> Unsubscribe:
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-dev/dholth%40gmail.com
>