[Python-Dev] Re: Re: Alternative Implementation forPEP 292:SimpleStringSubstitutions (original) (raw)

M.-A. Lemburg mal at egenix.com
Sun Sep 5 18:48:55 CEST 2004

Fredrik Lundh wrote:

M.-A. Lemburg wrote:

Yes. Whatever MAL and Barry thinks, Python's current model is 8+8=8, U+U=U, and 8+U=U for ascii U. That's an advantage, not a bug. Indeed, but I don't see how that's different from what the PEP is saying. the current implementation is T(8) % 8 = U. which violates the 8+8=8 rule.

T is a sub-class of Unicode, so you have:

U % 8 = U

which is just fine.

And when that time comes, storing everything as 32-bit characters is not the right answer either.

I'll leave that for the libc designers to decide :-) If you look at performance, there's not much difference between 8-bit strings and Unicode, so the only argument against using Unicode for storing text data is memory usage. I used to make that argument, but these days, I no longer think that you can talk about performance without taking memory usage into account.

You always have to take both into account. I was just saying that 8-bit strings don't buy you much in terms of performance over Unicode these days, so the only argument against using Unicode would be doubled memory usage. Of course, this is a rather mild argument given the problems you face when trying to localize applications - which I see as the main use case for templates.

-- Marc-Andre Lemburg eGenix.com

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