335 lines
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ReStructuredText
335 lines
12 KiB
ReStructuredText
PEP: 661
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Title: Sentinel Values
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Author: Tal Einat <tal@python.org>
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Discussions-To: https://discuss.python.org/t/pep-661-sentinel-values/9126
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Status: Draft
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Type: Standards Track
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Content-Type: text/x-rst
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Created: 06-Jun-2021
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Post-History: 06-Jun-2021
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TL;DR: See the `Specification`_ and `Reference Implementation`_.
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Abstract
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========
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Unique placeholder values, commonly known as "sentinel values", are useful in
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Python programs for several things, such as default values for function
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arguments where ``None`` is a valid input value. These cases are common
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enough for several idioms for implementing such "sentinels" to have arisen
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over the years, but uncommon enough that there hasn't been a clear need for
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standardization. However, the common implementations, including some in the
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stdlib, suffer from several significant drawbacks.
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This PEP suggests adding a utility for defining sentinel values, to be used
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in the stdlib and made publicly available as part of the stdlib.
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Note: Changing all existing sentinels in the stdlib to be implemented this
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way is not deemed necessary, and whether to do so is left to the discretion
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of each maintainer.
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Motivation
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==========
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In May 2021, a question was brought up on the `python-dev mailing list
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<python-dev-thread_>`__ about how to better implement a sentinel value for
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``traceback.print_exception``. The existing implementation used the
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following common idiom::
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_sentinel = object()
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However, this object has an uninformative and overly verbose repr, causing the
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function's signature to be overly long and hard to read::
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>>> help(traceback.print_exception)
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Help on function print_exception in module traceback:
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print_exception(exc, /, value=<object object at
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0x000002825DF09650>, tb=<object object at 0x000002825DF09650>,
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limit=None, file=None, chain=True)
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Additionally, two other drawbacks of many existing sentinels were brought up
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in the discussion:
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1. Not having a distinct type, hence it being impossible to define strict
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type signatures functions with sentinels as default values
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2. Incorrect behavior after being copied or unpickled, due to a separate
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instance being created and thus comparisons using ``is`` failing
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In the ensuing discussion, Victor Stinner supplied a list of currently used
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`sentinel values in the Python standard library <list-of-sentinels-in-stdlib_>`__.
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This showed that the need for sentinels is fairly common, that there are
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various implementation methods used even within the stdlib, and that many of
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these suffer from at least one of the aforementioned drawbacks.
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The discussion did not lead to any clear consensus on whether a standard
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implementation method is needed or desirable, whether the drawbacks mentioned
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are significant, nor which kind of implementation would be good.
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A `poll was created on discuss.python.org <poll_>`__ to get a clearer sense of
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the community's opinions. The poll's results were not conclusive, with 40%
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voting for "The status-quo is fine / there’s no need for consistency in
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this", but most voters voting for one or more standardized solutions.
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Specifically, 37% of the voters chose "Consistent use of a new, dedicated
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sentinel factory / class / meta-class, also made publicly available in the
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stdlib".
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With such mixed opinions, this PEP was created to facilitate making a decision
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on the subject.
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Rationale
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=========
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The criteria guiding the chosen implementation were:
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1. The sentinel objects should behave as expected by a sentinel object: When
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compared using the ``is`` operator, it should always be considered identical
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to itself but never to any other object.
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2. It should be simple to define as many distinct sentinel values as needed.
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3. The sentinel objects should have a clear and short repr.
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4. The sentinel objects should each have a *distinct* type, usable in type
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annotations to define *strict* type signatures.
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5. The sentinel objects should behave correctly after copying and/or
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unpickling.
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6. Creating a sentinel object should be a simple, straightforward one-liner.
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7. Works using CPython and PyPy3. Will hopefully also work with other
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implementations.
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After researching existing idioms and implementations, and going through many
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different possible implementations, an implementation was written which meets
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all of these criteria (see `Reference Implementation`_).
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Specification
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=============
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A new ``sentinel`` function will be added to a new ``sentinels`` module.
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It will accept a single required argument, the name of the sentinel object,
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and a single optional argument, the repr of the object.
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::
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>>> NotGiven = sentinel('NotGiven')
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>>> NotGiven
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<NotGiven>
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>>> MISSING = sentinel('MISSING', repr='mymodule.MISSING')
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>>> MISSING
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mymodule.MISSING
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Checking if a value is such a sentinel *should* be done using the ``is``
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operator, as is recommended for ``None``. Equality checks using ``==`` will
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also work as expected, returning ``True`` only when the object is compared
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with itself.
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The name should be set to the name of the variable used to reference the
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object, as in the examples above. Otherwise, the sentinel object won't be
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able to survive copying or pickling+unpickling while retaining the above
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described behavior. Note, that when defined in a class scope, the name must
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be the fully-qualified name of the variable in the module, for example::
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class MyClass:
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NotGiven = sentinel('MyClass.NotGiven')
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Type annotations for sentinel values will use `typing.Literal`_.
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For example::
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def foo(value: int | Literal[NotGiven]) -> None:
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...
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.. _typing.Literal: https://docs.python.org/3/library/typing.html#typing.Literal
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Reference Implementation
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========================
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The reference implementation is found in a `dedicated GitHub repo
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<reference-github-repo_>`__. A simplified version follows::
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def sentinel(name, repr=None):
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"""Create a unique sentinel object."""
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repr = repr or f'<{name}>'
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module = _get_parent_frame().f_globals.get('__name__', '__main__')
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class_name = _get_class_name(name, module)
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class_namespace = {
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'__repr__': lambda self: repr,
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}
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cls = type(class_name, (), class_namespace)
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cls.__module__ = module
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_get_parent_frame().f_globals[class_name] = cls
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sentinel = cls()
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cls.__new__ = lambda cls_: sentinel
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return sentinel
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def _get_class_name(sentinel_qualname, module_name):
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return '__'.join(['_sentinel_type',
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module_name.replace('.', '_'),
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sentinel_qualname.replace('.', '_')])
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Note that a dedicated class is created automatically for each sentinel object.
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This class is assigned to the namespace of the module from which the
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``sentinel()`` call was made, or to that of the ``sentinels`` module itself as
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a fallback. These classes have long names comprised of several parts to
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ensure their uniqueness. However, these names usually wouldn't be used, since
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type annotations should use ``Literal[]`` as described above, and identity
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checks should be preferred over type checks.
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Rejected Ideas
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==============
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Use ``NotGiven = object()``
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---------------------------
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This suffers from all of the drawbacks mentioned in the `Rationale`_ section.
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Add a single new sentinel value, e.g. ``MISSING`` or ``Sentinel``
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Since such a value could be used for various things in various places, one
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could not always be confident that it would never be a valid value in some use
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cases. On the other hand, a dedicated and distinct sentinel value can be used
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with confidence without needing to consider potential edge-cases.
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Additionally, it is useful to be able to provide a meaningful name and repr
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for a sentinel value, specific to the context where it is used.
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Finally, this was a very unpopular option in the `poll <poll_>`__, with only 12%
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of the votes voting for it.
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Use the existing ``Ellipsis`` sentinel value
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--------------------------------------------
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This is not the original intended use of Ellipsis, though it has become
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increasingly common to use it to define empty class or function blocks instead
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of using ``pass``.
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Also, similar to a potential new single sentinel value, ``Ellipsis`` can't be
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as confidently used in all cases, unlike a dedicated, distinct value.
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Use a single-valued enum
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------------------------
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The suggested idiom is:
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::
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class NotGivenType(Enum):
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NotGiven = 'NotGiven'
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NotGiven = NotGivenType.NotGiven
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Besides the excessive repetition, the repr is overly long:
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``<NotGivenType.NotGiven: 'NotGiven'>``. A shorter repr can be defined, at
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the expense of a bit more code and yet more repetition.
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Finally, this option was the least popular among the nine options in the `poll
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<poll_>`__, being the only option to receive no votes.
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A sentinel class decorator
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--------------------------
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The suggested interface:
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::
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@sentinel(repr='<NotGiven>')
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class NotGivenType: pass
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NotGiven = NotGivenType()
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While this allowed for a very simple and clear implementation, the interface
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is too verbose, repetitive, and difficult to remember.
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Using class objects
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-------------------
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Since classes are inherently singletons, using a class as a sentinel value
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makes sense and allows for a simple implementation.
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The simplest version of this idiom is:
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::
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class NotGiven: pass
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To have a clear repr, one could define ``__repr__``:
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::
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class NotGiven:
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def __repr__(self):
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return '<NotGiven>'
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... or use a meta-class:
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::
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class NotGiven(metaclass=SentinelMeta): pass
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However, all such implementations don't have a dedicated type for the
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sentinel, which is considered desirable for strict typing. A dedicated type
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could be created by a meta-class or class decorator, but at that point the
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implementation would become much more complex and loses its advantages over
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the chosen implementation.
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Additionally, using classes this way is unusual and could be confusing.
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Define a recommended "standard" idiom, without supplying an implementation
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Most common exiting idioms have significant drawbacks. So far, no idiom
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has been found that is clear and concise while avoiding these drawbacks.
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Also, in the `poll on this subject <poll_>`__, the options for recommending an
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idiom were unpopular, with the highest-voted option being voted for by only
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25% of the voters.
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Additional Notes
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================
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* This PEP and the initial implementation are drafted in a `dedicated GitHub
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repo <reference-github-repo_>`__.
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* The support for copying/unpickling works when defined in a module's scope or
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a (possibly nested) class's scope. Note that in the latter case, the name
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provided as the first parameter must be the fully-qualified name of the
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variable in the module::
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class MyClass:
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NotGiven = sentinel('MyClass.NotGiven', repr='<NotGiven>')
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References
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==========
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.. _python-dev-thread: https://mail.python.org/archives/list/python-dev@python.org/thread/ZLVPD2OISI7M4POMTR2FCQTE6TPMPTO3/
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.. _list-of-sentinels-in-stdlib: https://mail.python.org/archives/list/python-dev@python.org/message/JBYXQH3NV3YBF7P2HLHB5CD6V3GVTY55/
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.. _poll: https://discuss.python.org/t/sentinel-values-in-the-stdlib/8810/
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.. _reference-github-repo: https://github.com/taleinat/python-stdlib-sentinels
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* `bpo-44123: Make function parameter sentinel values true singletons <https://bugs.python.org/issue44123>`_
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* `The "sentinels" package on PyPI <https://pypi.org/project/sentinels/>`_
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* `The "sentinel" package on PyPI <https://pypi.org/project/sentinel/>`_
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* `Discussion thread about type signatures for these sentinels on the typing-sig mailing list <https://mail.python.org/archives/list/typing-sig@python.org/thread/NDEJ7UCDPINP634GXWDARVMTGDVSNBKV/#LVCPTY26JQJW7NKGKGAZXHQKWVW7GOGL>`_
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Copyright
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=========
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This document is placed in the public domain or under the
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CC0-1.0-Universal license, whichever is more permissive.
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