[Python-ideas] simplification pep-like thing

[Aahz]

On Fri, Jan 26, 2007, tomer filiba wrote:
>
> Default Simplification
> =====================
> All the built in types would grow a __simplify__ and __rebuild__
> methods, which would follow these guidelines:
> 
> Primitive types (int, str, float, ...) are considered atomic.
> 
> Composite types (I think 'complex' is the only type), are
> broken down into their components. For the complex type,
> that would be a tuple of (real, imaginary).
> 
> Container types (tuples, lists, sets, dicts) represent themselves
> as tuples of items. For example, dicts would be simplified
> according to this pseudocode:
> 
>     def PyDict_Simplifiy(PyObject * self):
>         return PyDictType, tuple(self.items())
> 
> Built in types would be considered atomic. User-defined classes
> can be simplified into their metaclass, __bases__, and __dict__.

This seems to contradict the following:

> For instance, file objects are atomic; one serializer may be able to
> handle them, by storing them as (filename, file-mode, file-position),
> while another may not be, so it would raise an exception.

Where do files fit into all this?
-- 
Aahz (aahz at pythoncraft.com)           <*>         http://www.pythoncraft.com/

"I disrespectfully agree."  --SJM