[Python-Dev] PEP 467: Minor API improvements to bytes, bytearray, and memoryview

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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Python-Dev [mailto:python-dev-bounces+tritium-
> list=sdamon.com at python.org] On Behalf Of Nick Coghlan
> Sent: Tuesday, June 7, 2016 5:40 PM
> To: Barry Warsaw <barry at python.org>
> Cc: python-dev at python.org
> Subject: Re: [Python-Dev] PEP 467: Minor API improvements to bytes,
> bytearray, and memoryview
> 
> On 7 June 2016 at 14:31, Barry Warsaw <barry at python.org> wrote:
> > On Jun 07, 2016, at 01:28 PM, Ethan Furman wrote:
> >
> >>* Add ``bytes.iterbytes``, ``bytearray.iterbytes`` and
> >>   ``memoryview.iterbytes`` alternative iterators
> >
> > +1 but I want to go just a little farther.
> >
> > We can't change bytes.__getitem__ but we can add another method that
> returns
> > single byte objects?  I think it's still a bit of a pain to extract
single
> > bytes even with .iterbytes().
> >
> > Maybe .iterbytes can take a single index argument (blech) or add a
method
> like
> > .byte_at(i).  I'll let you bikeshed on the name.
> 
> Perhaps:
> 
>  data.getbyte(i)
>  data.iterbytes()

data.getbyte(index_or_slice_object) ?

while it might not be... ideal... to create a sliceable live view object, we
can have a method that accepts a slice, even if we have to create it
manually (or at least make it convenient for those who wish to wrap a bytes
object in their own type and blindly pass the first-non-self arg of a custom
__getitem__ to the method).

> The rationale for "Why not a live view?" is that an iterator is simple
> to define and implement, while we know from experience with memoryview
> and the various dict views that live views are a minefield for folks
> defining new container types. Since this PEP would in some sense
> change what it means to implement a full "bytes-like object", it's
> worth keeping implementation complexity in mind.
> 
> Cheers,
> Nick.
> 
> --
> Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at gmail.com   |   Brisbane, Australia
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