[Python-ideas] a new bytestring type?

[Ned Batchelder]

On 1/5/14 9:00 PM, Mark Janssen wrote:
>>> "arrays of integers"?  You mean, unsigned short ints?  There's an
>>> important difference.  One references an abstraction, and one
>>> references a concrete machine type.
>>>
>>> The other consideration is knowing what you mean by "string", if you
>>> mean something to be interpreted textually, then the convention is to
>>> use unsigned chars to document your intentions, which "technically" is
>>> the same (as far as memory layout is concerned).  (I say "technically"
>>> because there is some space reserved for endian-ness which can change
>>> the bit ordering.)
>> One mistake I already wish to correct ...
>> Trying to be complete...
> Come to think of it, this issue (the relationship between bytes, text,
> and char/ints) may be the entire reason Python3 "uptake" hasn't
> happened.  It gets back to the same old argument I've been trying to
> make about "models of computation".  Python3 apparently did not
> respect the machine and went the way of the "dark side", hence
> scientific computing hasn't been as quick to convert to Python 3.
>
> Specifically, the final issue with regard to bytes (and it's
> consequent model of computation) is thus:   1) how they maintain
> representation on the file system (the "disk") vs. 2) how they are
> represented and managed in memory.  This is the primary articulation
> point regarding how the *abstraction of computing* relates to its
> *implementation*.  This also relates to the Turing Machine and it's
> articulation with the underlying VonNeumann architecture
> (implementation).
>
> Ned, I hope you're finally understanding this.
Mark, I think you are confusing my posts in Python-List with this 
thread.  I would rather you didn't address me: my interactions with you 
in the past have been unpleasant, especially where we've tried to get to 
the bottom of one of your typically obscure references to the theory of 
computation.  You've mocked and ignored me when I've tried to treat your 
ideas with respect, so I'm not going to make that mistake again.

--Ned.
> MarkJ
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