> Guido said not to "mix up" the question of bit arrays with the bool > proposal, but really, they *are* mixed up. The minute there is a bool > type in Python people will be able to make Numeric arrays (not to > mention Python arrays) with elements of type "bool". I dunno about Numeric, but you cannot use an arbitrary type for the 'array' module -- you must use one of the documented codes that tell the array module what size items to use. Since there's no code (documented or otherwise) that refers to bool, you *won't* be able to create bool arrays with the array module. I thought Numeric used a similar scheme? > They will then be > annoyed to learn that they are making arrays of objects and the result > is a big array, not a small array, and that they would have been better > off with our byte integer arrays. Depending on the implementation, > mixing in bool values in a list of integers might persuade Numeric's > array constructor to make them all objects. I made bool a subclass of int to minimize this danger, but I don't know whether Numeric uses PyInt_Check() or not. If it uses that macro, it should be safe. > In short, they are mixed up in the sense that this proposed intellectual > nicety will cause us Nummies a lot of grief. Not that you aren't allowed > to give us grief, like you did with the "true division", but I wanted > people to know they would be inflicting pain. But let's not worry about pain we don't know that we'll really be experiencing. I like to look at things from the bright side. Wait until I check it into CVS next week. :-) > BTW: There is quite a bit of pent-up demand in the Numeric community for > bit arrays. However, nobody knows how to do it since the internal Numpy > structures use a byte as the atomic unit of addressing. Same for the Python array module. --Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)
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