PyO3 / PyO3/pyo3

`Cow` equivalent in PyO3

Open
#3,839 1 comment 3 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Dominant language
Rust
Stars
16.2k
Forks
1k
Avg merge
2d 6h
Merged PRs (30d)
66

Description

I propose to add a type to support copy-on-write behavior just like the std::borrow::Cow. The Cow type in std is usually unwanted because a reference to a Python object is held though PyRef. Therefore something like the following will be useful:

enum PyCow<'a, B>
where
    B: 'a + ToOwned + PyClass,
{
    Borrowed(PyRef<'a, B>),
    Owned(<B as ToOwned>::Owned),
}

This is useful when a function accepts both a Python object or something that can be converted to the object. For example, if I have a rust-implemented Python-type Decimal, a function that accepts a either Decimal or a string can take this as input to prevent a copy.

(Not sure if this is useful for other people, or if it's compatible with the new Bound API or not... Just post the idea here for discussion)

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

The issue proposes a PyCow type for copy-on-write handling of Python objects, using PyRef and considering compatibility with the Bound API. Start by reviewing those APIs and std::borrow::Cow; done would require a resolved design and maintainer agreement on whether and how this belongs in PyO3.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python, rust
Domain
backend-api-design
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.