[Python-Dev] Why does read() return bytes instead of bytearray? (original) (raw)

Antoine Pitrou solipsis at pitrou.net
Thu Apr 16 01:16:29 CEST 2009


Lisandro Dalcin <dalcinl gmail.com> writes:

However, your original question is still valid ... Why a binary read() returns an immutable type?

Because bytes is the standard type for holding binary data. Bytearray should only be used when there's a real, measured performance advantage doing so (which, IMHO, is rarer than you think). An immutable type makes daily programming much less error-prone.

Regards

Antoine.



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