[Python-Dev] Looking for master thesis ideas involving Python

Thu Oct 30 06:10:20 EST 2003

"Phillip J. Eby" <pje at telecommunity.com> writes:
> At 06:33 PM 10/29/03 +0000, Michael Hudson wrote:
>>"Phillip J. Eby" <pje at telecommunity.com> writes:
>>>> > * Direct use of positional arguments on the stack as the "locals" of
>> > the next function called, without creating (and then unpacking) an
>> > argument tuple, in the case where there are no */** arguments
>> > provided by the caller.
>>>>Already done, unless I misunderstand your idea. Well, the arguments
>>might still get copied into the new frame's locals area but I'm pretty
>>sure no tuple is involved.
>> Hm. I thought that particular optimization only could take place when
> the function lacks default arguments. But maybe I've misread that
> part. If it's true in all cases, then argument tuple creation isn't
> where the overhead is coming from.

I hadn't realized/had forgotten that this optimization depended on the
lack of default arguments. Instinct would say that it shouldn't be
*too* hard to extend to that case (hardly a thesis topic, at any rate
:-).

Cheers,
mwh
-- 
 The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste.
 -- Steve Jobs, (From _Triumph of the Nerds_ PBS special)
 and quoted by Aahz Maruch on comp.lang.python