[Python-Dev] Consolidate stateful runtime globals (original) (raw)

Koos Zevenhoven k7hoven at gmail.com
Thu Sep 7 10:29:19 EDT 2017

On Wed, Sep 6, 2017 at 8:17 PM, Benjamin Peterson <benjamin at python.org> wrote:

On Wed, Sep 6, 2017, at 10:08, Antoine Pitrou wrote: > On Wed, 06 Sep 2017 09:42:29 -0700 > Benjamin Peterson <benjamin at python.org> wrote: > > On Wed, Sep 6, 2017, at 03:14, Antoine Pitrou wrote: > > > > > > Hello, > > > > > > I'm a bit concerned about > > > https://github.com/python/cpython/commit/ 76d5abc8684bac4f2fc7cccfe2cd940923357351 > > > > > > My main gripe is that makes writing C code more tedious. Simple C > > > global variables such as "onceregistry" are now spelled > > > "PyRuntime.warnings.onceregistry". The most egregious example seems > > > to be "PyRuntime.ceval.gil.locked" (used to be simply "gillocked"). > > > > > > Granted, C is more verbose than Python, but it doesn't have to become > > > that verbose. I don't know about you, but when code becomes annoying > > > to type, I tend to try and take shortcuts. > > > > How often are you actually typing the names of runtime globals, though? > > Not very often, but if I want to experiment with some low-level > implementation details, it is nice to avoid the hassle.

It seems like this could be remediated with some inline functions or macros, which would also help safely encapsulate state. > > There's also a readability argument: with very long names, expressions > can become less easy to parse. > > > If you are using a globals, perhaps the typing time will allow you to > > fully consider the gravity of the situation. > > Right, I needed to be reminded of how perilous the use of C globals is. > Perhaps I should contact the PSRT the next time I contemplate using a C > global. It's not just you but future readers.

Great. Related to this, there is also discussion on dangers of globals and other widely-scoped variables in the Rationale section of PEP 555 (Context-local variables), for anyone interested. But if you read the draft I posted on python-ideas last Monday, you've already seen it.

––Koos

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