Generators versus Coroutines

[Jeff Shannon]

Michael Sparks wrote:

>On 17 Aug 2004, Paul Rubin <http://phr.cx@NOSPAM.invalid> wrote:
>...
>  
>
>>No, pure includes C modules included with the interpreter.
>>    
>>
>
>See, this I find a ridiculous assertion. After all the modules that get
>included changes. That means one week one implementation will be viewed as
>impure and the next week pure. That's why I think the whole notion of
>purity is ridiculous.
>  
>

The included modules will only change with new versions of Python (and 
not necessarily then).  In practical terms, the need to consider Python 
version is more important for minor syntax incompatibilities than for 
"pure"-ness considerations, but this definition makes it quite clear 
whether something is "pure" Python for any given Python version.

And really, it's not *that* common for major extension packages to start 
out independently and then later be incorporated into the Python 
standard distribution.  There's a few examples, sure... but it's not 
like the list of included modules changes much from week to week, as 
your objection seems to be implying.

Keep in mind, too, that when people talk about something being "pure" 
Python, they're using a practical definition of "pure" rather than a 
pure (theoretical) one. ;)  It's very practical to say, "This program is 
pure Python and runs on version 2.2 or later."  That tells me that if 
I've got a 2.2 or 2.3 interpreter installed, it'll work on my machine -- 
I don't have to worry about whether I can find or compile binaries 
that'll work for my particular system.  I don't care whether or not the 
Python standard library ever calls into compiled code, all I care about 
is whether *I* need a compiler to install it.  (This is especially a 
problem on Windows, where compilers are rarely present; *nix machines 
usually have gcc (or some other cc) installed by default, but compilers 
are not present by default on Windows.)

Jeff Shannon
Technician/Programmer
Credit International