python / python/cpython

datetime: Stop Exposing Process-Global Objects in the datetime C-API

Open
#122,184 3 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

extension-modules type-feature
Dominant language
Python
Stars
77.2k
Forks
35.9k
PR merge metrics
PR metrics pending

Description

Feature or enhancement

Proposal:

The datetime module has its own C-API which is enabled with PyDateTime_IMPORT. From the docs:

Before using any of these functions, the header file datetime.h must be included in your source
(note that this is not included by Python.h), and the macro PyDateTime_IMPORT must be invoked,
usually as part of the module initialisation function. The macro puts a pointer to a C structure into
a static variable, PyDateTimeAPI, that is used by the following macros.

My main concern is that the PyDateTimeAPI struct is a process-global value, but it exposes object pointers (which should always be per-interpreter). We have worked around this in 3.13+, but it would be better if we could make the objects per-interpreter.

FTR, here are the objects exposed directly by PyDateTimeAPI:

  • (static type) PyDateTime_DateType
  • (static type) PyDateTime_DateTimeType
  • (static type) PyDateTime_TimeType
  • (static type) PyDateTime_DeltaType
  • (static type) PyDateTime_TZInfoType
  • (singleton) utc_timezone (an instance of PyDateTime_TimeZoneType)

exposed indirectly:

  • (static type) PyDateTime_TimeZoneType

In order to make these objects per-interpreter, it would require changes to the datetime C-API. [^1] I expect we would leave PyDateTime_IMPORT alone. Instead, we'd need to update the macros in datetime.h to get the objects from the module associated with the current interpreter. [^2]

[^1]: These would be ABI-incompatible changes, which wouldn't be a problem unless the datetime C-API is part of the limited API).
[^2]: Anyone who is accessing the PyDateTimeAPI struct directly would have to change their code. It might make sense to provide a getter function/macro for each of the objects.

Has this already been discussed elsewhere?

This is a minor feature, which does not need previous discussion elsewhere

Links to previous discussion of this feature:

No response

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

Start with the datetime C-API documentation and the datetime.h macros described in the proposal, then inspect how PyDateTimeAPI exposes the listed types and utc_timezone. Done means those objects are per-interpreter while PyDateTime_IMPORT remains unchanged, with any required getter or direct-access changes documented and tested.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c, python
Domain
api
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.