Oct-05-2016, 09:58 PM
Originally posted by Casevh
Sorry about the long delay between Part 1 and Part 2. In Part 1, we created the simplest possible Python extension. In Part 2, we'll create what may be the most useless Python object (but it still has a purpose).
The "None" object in Python is very basic. Is it possible to create an object that does even less than "None"? Yes, it si. The new object "Undefined" has even fewer capabilities than "None":
Is there a practical use for Undefined? "None" is frequently used as a default value for a keyword argument in a function definition. Since "None" has some practical uses, it is impossible to distinguish between None-as-default and None-as-specified. Undefined can be used as the default value. Undefined has such limited use that it is doubtful that anyone would want to specify it as a value.
casevh
Sorry about the long delay between Part 1 and Part 2. In Part 1, we created the simplest possible Python extension. In Part 2, we'll create what may be the most useless Python object (but it still has a purpose).
The "None" object in Python is very basic. Is it possible to create an object that does even less than "None"? Yes, it si. The new object "Undefined" has even fewer capabilities than "None":
- "Undefined" does not have a boolean value. It can't be converted to True/False.
- "Undefined" can't be compared to any other object.
- "Undefined" can't be used as a dictionary key.
#include "Python.h"
/* The Undefined object is an attempt to make the most useless object possible.
* It is intended to be used as a default value for a keyword argument that
* could not be *reasonably* passed as a usable value. None is normally used
* but None can be a useful value.
*
* Undefined does not support conversion to a boolean value so "if Undefined:"
* will raise an exception. Comparisons are not supported, either. Hashing is
* not supported so Undefined can't be used as a dictionary key. */
/* Create a varible to store the single instance of Undefined. */
static PyObject *case_Undefined = NULL;
/* Create the C structure to store the internals that are used by Python.
* PyObject_HEAD is Python macro that defines variable to hold:
* - the reference count
* - pointers to other structures that define supported methods
* - etc. */
typedef struct {
PyObject_HEAD
} UndefinedObject;
/* Create a corresponding type... */
static PyTypeObject Undefined_Type;
/* Define a macro to check the type of an object. */
#define UndefinedObject_Check(v) (Py_TYPE(v) == &Undefined_Type)
/* Create a new instance of an UndefinedObject. This is equivalent to the
* __new__ special method of Python objects.*/
static UndefinedObject *
UndefinedObject_new(PyObject *arg)
{
return PyObject_New(UndefinedObject, &Undefined_Type);
}
/* Delete an instance of an UndefinedObject. This is equivalent to the
* __del__ special method of Python objects.*/
static void
UndefinedObject_dealloc(UndefinedObject *self)
{
PyObject_Del(self);
}
/* Define a replacement for __bool__ (or __nonzero__ for Python 2.x) to
* prevent converting an instance of Undefined into a boolean value. bool()
* actually checks __bool__, then __len__, and if neither are defined, the
* object is considered True. The replacment function sets an exception and
* then returns a special value (-1) to indicate an exception has been set. */
static int
UndefinedObject_bool(UndefinedObject *self)
{
PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
"UndefinedObject does not have a boolean value");
return -1;
}
/* Define a replacement for the comparison methods. In C, all siz of the
* special methods (__lt__, __le__, etc.) are implemented by a single function.
* Note that this function returns NULL to indicate that an exception has
* been set. */
static PyObject *
Undefined_richcompare(PyObject *self, PyObject *other, int op)
{
PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
"UndefinedObject can not be compared");
return NULL;
}
static PyObject *
Undefined_str(PyObject *self)
{
return Py_BuildValue("s", "Undefined");
}
PyDoc_STRVAR(undefined_doc,
"The Undefined object can be used as a default value instead of None.\n"
"To minimize chances of using Undefined as useful Python object, it\n"
"is designed to be as unusable as possible:\n"
" - Undefined cannot be a dictionary key\n"
" - Undefined does not have a boolean value\n"
" - Undefined cannot be compared to anything, even itself");
/* Define a table that has pointers to the C functions that implement the
* various __XXX__ special methods that support numerical capabilities. The
* __bool__ method slot is replaced by the function defined above. */
static PyNumberMethods undefined_number_methods =
{
0, /* nb_add */
0, /* nb_subtract */
0, /* nb_multiply */
0, /* nb_remainder */
0, /* nb_divmod */
0, /* nb_power */
0, /* nb_negative */
0, /* nb_positive */
0, /* nb_absolute */
(inquiry)UndefinedObject_bool, /* nb_bool */
0, /* nb_invert */
0, /* nb_lshift */
0, /* nb_rshift */
0, /* nb_and */
0, /* nb_xor */
0, /* nb_or */
0, /* nb_int */
0, /* nb_reserved */
0, /* nb_float */
0, /* nb_inplace_add */
0, /* nb_inplace_subtract */
0, /* nb_inplace_multiply */
0, /* nb_inplace_remainder */
0, /* nb_inplace_power */
0, /* nb_inplace_lshift */
0, /* nb_inplace_rshift */
0, /* nb_inplace_and */
0, /* nb_inplace_xor */
0, /* nb_inplace_or */
0, /* nb_floor_divide */
0, /* nb_true_divide */
0, /* nb_inplace_floor_divide */
0, /* nb_inplace_true_divide */
0, /* nb_index */
};
/* Define the details of Undefined_Type. The following slots (and their Python
* equivalent) are implemented by functions defined above.
* tp_dealloc (__del__)
* tp_repr (__repr__)
* tp_str (__str__)
* tp_richcompare (__let__, etc.)
*
* tp_as_number points to the custom table of numerical methods defined
* above. This overwrites __bool__. */
static PyTypeObject Undefined_Type = {
PyVarObject_HEAD_INIT(NULL, 0)
"UndefinedObject", /* tp_name */
sizeof(UndefinedObject), /* tp_basicsize */
0, /* tp_itemsize */
/* methods */
(destructor)UndefinedObject_dealloc, /* tp_dealloc */
0, /* tp_print */
0, /* tp_getattr */
0, /* tp_setattr */
0, /* tp_reserved */
(reprfunc)Undefined_str, /* tp_repr */
&undefined_number_methods, /* tp_as_number */
0, /* tp_as_sequence */
0, /* tp_as_mapping */
0, /* tp_hash */
0, /* tp_call */
(reprfunc)Undefined_str, /* tp_str */
0, /* tp_getattro */
0, /* tp_setattro */
0, /* tp_as_buffer */
Py_TPFLAGS_DEFAULT, /* tp_flags */
undefined_doc, /* tp_doc */
0, /* tp_traverse */
0, /* tp_clear */
(richcmpfunc)&Undefined_richcompare, /* tp_richcompare */
0, /* tp_weaklistoffset */
0, /* tp_iter */
0, /* tp_iternext */
0, /* tp_methods */
0, /* tp_members */
0, /* tp_getset */
0, /* tp_base */
0, /* tp_dict */
0, /* tp_descr_get */
0, /* tp_descr_set */
0, /* tp_dictoffset */
0, /* tp_init */
0, /* tp_alloc */
0, /* tp_new */
0, /* tp_free */
0, /* tp_is_gc */
};
/* End of UndefinedObject. */
PyDoc_STRVAR(case_doc,
"A collection of arbitrary simple extensions.");
static struct PyModuleDef case_module = {
PyModuleDef_HEAD_INIT,
"case", /* m_name */
case_doc, /* m_doc */
-1, /* m_size */
NULL, /* m_methods */
NULL, /* m_reload */
NULL, /* m_traverse */
NULL, /* m_clear */
NULL /* m_free */
};
PyMODINIT_FUNC
PyInit_case(void)
{
PyObject *m = NULL;
/* Initialize the new types. */
if (PyType_Ready(&Undefined_Type) < 0)
goto fail;
/* Create an empty module. */
m = PyModule_Create(&case_module);
if (m == NULL)
goto fail;
/* Create the singleton instances and add them to the module. */
case_Undefined = (PyObject*)UndefinedObject_new(NULL);
if (case_Undefined == NULL)
goto fail;
Py_INCREF(case_Undefined);
PyModule_AddObject(m, "Undefined", case_Undefined);
return m;
fail:
Py_XDECREF(m);
Py_XDECREF(case_Undefined);
return NULL;
}And here are some examples:>>> from case import Undefined >>> bool(Undefined) Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module> TypeError: UndefinedObject does not have a boolean value >>> Undefined < True Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module> TypeError: UndefinedObject can not be compared >>> Undefined == Undefined Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module> TypeError: UndefinedObject can not be compared >>> a=Undefined >>> a is Undefined True >>>The "is" keyword compares the memory locations of two objects. Since only one Undefined object is created, all references to Undefined point to the same memory location so all instances are the same (according to "is").
Is there a practical use for Undefined? "None" is frequently used as a default value for a keyword argument in a function definition. Since "None" has some practical uses, it is impossible to distinguish between None-as-default and None-as-specified. Undefined can be used as the default value. Undefined has such limited use that it is doubtful that anyone would want to specify it as a value.
>>> def f(val=Undefined):
... if val is Undefined:
... print("No argument passed.")
... else:
... print("An argument was passed.")
...
>>> f()
No argument passed.
>>> f(None)
An argument was passed.
>>> Please let me know if you would like additional comments or explanations. casevh
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