[Python-Dev] Experiment an opt-in new C API for Python? (leave current API unchanged)

[Stefan Krah]

Victor Stinner wrote:

> Moreover, I failed to find anyone who can explain me how the C API is used
> in the wild, which functions are important or not, what is the C API, etc.

In practice people desperately *have* to use whatever is there, including
functions with underscores that are not even officially in the C-API.

I have to use _PyFloat_Pack* in order to be compatible with CPython, I need
PySlice_Unpack() etc., I need PyUnicode_KIND(), need PyUnicode_AsUTF8AndSize(),
I *wish* there were PyUnicode_AsAsciiAndSize().


In general, in daily use of the C-API I wish it were *larger* and not smaller.

I often want functions that return C instead of Python values ot functions
that take C instead of Python values.

The ideal situation for me would be a lower layer library, say libcpython.a
that has all those functions like _PyFloat_Pack*.

It would be an enormous amount of work though, especially since the status quo
kind of works.



Stefan Krah