101 lines
2.8 KiB
Plaintext
101 lines
2.8 KiB
Plaintext
PEP: 294
|
|
Title: Type Names in the types Module
|
|
Author: Oren Tirosh <oren at hishome.net>
|
|
Status: Rejected
|
|
Type: Standards Track
|
|
Content-Type: text/x-rst
|
|
Created: 19-Jun-2002
|
|
Python-Version: 2.5
|
|
Post-History:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Abstract
|
|
========
|
|
|
|
This PEP proposes that symbols matching the type name should be added
|
|
to the types module for all basic Python types in the types module::
|
|
|
|
types.IntegerType -> types.int
|
|
types.FunctionType -> types.function
|
|
types.TracebackType -> types.traceback
|
|
...
|
|
|
|
The long capitalized names currently in the types module will be
|
|
deprecated.
|
|
|
|
With this change the types module can serve as a replacement for the
|
|
new module. The new module shall be deprecated and listed in :pep:`4`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pronouncement
|
|
=============
|
|
|
|
A centralized repository of type names was a mistake. Neither the
|
|
"types" nor "new" modules should be carried forward to Python 3.0.
|
|
|
|
In the meantime, it does not make sense to make the proposed updates
|
|
to the modules. This would cause disruption without any compensating
|
|
benefit.
|
|
|
|
Instead, the problem that some internal types (frames, functions,
|
|
etc.) don't live anywhere outside those modules may be addressed by
|
|
either adding them to ``__builtin__`` or sys. This will provide a
|
|
smoother transition to Python 3.0.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rationale
|
|
=========
|
|
|
|
Using two sets of names for the same objects is redundant and
|
|
confusing.
|
|
|
|
In Python versions prior to 2.2 the symbols matching many type names
|
|
were taken by the factory functions for those types. Now all basic
|
|
types have been unified with their factory functions and therefore the
|
|
type names are available to be consistently used to refer to the type
|
|
object.
|
|
|
|
Most types are accessible as either builtins or in the new module but
|
|
some types such as traceback and generator are only accessible through
|
|
the types module under names which do not match the type name. This
|
|
PEP provides a uniform way to access all basic types under a single
|
|
set of names.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Specification
|
|
=============
|
|
|
|
The types module shall pass the following test::
|
|
|
|
import types
|
|
for t in vars(types).values():
|
|
if type(t) is type:
|
|
assert getattr(types, t.__name__) is t
|
|
|
|
The types 'class', 'instance method' and 'dict-proxy' have already
|
|
been renamed to the valid Python identifiers 'classobj',
|
|
'instancemethod' and 'dictproxy', making this possible.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Backward compatibility
|
|
======================
|
|
|
|
Because of their widespread use it is not planned to actually remove
|
|
the long names from the types module in some future version. However,
|
|
the long names should be changed in documentation and library sources
|
|
to discourage their use in new code.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reference Implementation
|
|
========================
|
|
|
|
A reference implementation is available in
|
|
`issue #569328 <https://bugs.python.org/issue569328>`_.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright
|
|
=========
|
|
|
|
This document has been placed in the public domain.
|