[Python-Dev] str vs. unicode (original) (raw)

M.-A. Lemburg mal at egenix.com
Wed Jan 19 12:42:15 CET 2005

Walter Dörwald wrote:

M.-A. Lemburg wrote:

So the question is whether conversion of a Unicode sub-type to a true Unicode object should honor unicode or not.

The same question can be asked for many other types, e.g. floats (and float), integers (and int), etc. >>> class float2(float): ... def float(self): ... return 3.141 ... >>> float(float2(1.23)) 1.23 >>> class int2(int): ... def int(self): ... return 42 ... >>> int(int2(123)) 123 I think we need general consensus on what the strategy should be: honor these special hooks in conversions to base types or not ? I'd say, these hooks should be honored, because it gives us more possibilities: If you want the original value, simply don't implement the hook. Maybe the string case is the real problem ... :-) At least it seems that the string case is the exception.

Indeed.

So if we fix str this would be a bugfix for 2.4.1. If we fix the rest, this would be a new feature for 2.5.

I have a feeling that we're better off with the bug fix than the new feature.

str and unicode as well as the other hooks were specifically added for the type constructors to use. However, these were added at a time where sub-classing of types was not possible, so it's time now to reconsider whether this functionality should be extended to sub-classes as well.

-- Marc-Andre Lemburg eGenix.com

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