[Python-ideas] Exact integral types in struct

[Serhiy Storchaka]

The struct module works only with natural platform-specific integers. As 
a result, a lot of code in the standard library and third-party 
applications are forced either to rely on unreliable assumptions (short 
is always 2-byte, long is always 4-byte), which is not always true, 
either explicitly construct the integer from bytes 
(b[0]+(b[1]<<8)+(b[2]<<16)+...). I propose to introduce a special 
notation formats for signed and unsigned integers of arbitrary exact 
size (which is given a number preceded by the prefix). After that, 
eliminate the use of platform-specific formats when working with 
platform-independent data (such as zip, for example).

Or maybe I'm behind, and the corresponding functions already exist, and 
the use of the struct module is only remnants?