[Python-Dev] Adding bytes.frombuffer() constructor to PEP 467 (was: [Python-ideas] Adding bytes.frombuffer() constructor (original) (raw)

Chris Barker chris.barker at noaa.gov
Mon Oct 24 12:53:49 EDT 2016

Before the horse is totally dead... (maybe it already is), a couple comments:

In such cases, an extension module written in something like Cython, C or Rust would be a better fit,

well, yes, but:

From that perspective, adding "[bytes/bytearray].frombuffer"

this would be used for the fairly simple use case of passing stuff around between different modules, which would probably be written in something lower lever -- unless they too, only passed data around. Passign data around is a pretty good use-case for Python.

is adding

complexity to the core language for the sake of giving people one small additional piece of incremental performance improvement

here's the thing: this is a very small increase in complexity in exchange for a small increase in performance -- really not a big deal either way. If either of those were large, hte decision would be a no brainer.

By contrast, a library that provided better low level data buffer

manipulation that was suitable for asyncio's needs is much easier to emulate on older versions, and provides more scope for extracting efficient data manipulation patterns beyond this one very specific case of more efficiently snapshotting a subset of an existing buffer.

IS this na either-or? IF someone is proposing a nice lib for "low level data buffer manipulation", then yes, putting frombuffer() in there would be a fine idea.

But if there is no such proposal on the table, then I think adding a frombuffer method to the bytes object is a small improvement that we can do now.

https://blog.sentry.io/2016/10/19/fixing-python-performance-with-rust.html

pretty cool -- I guess I should take a look at Rust...

Thanks,

-CHB

--

Christopher Barker, Ph.D. Oceanographer

Emergency Response Division NOAA/NOS/OR&R (206) 526-6959 voice 7600 Sand Point Way NE (206) 526-6329 fax Seattle, WA 98115 (206) 526-6317 main reception

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