In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Craig Ringer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: . . . > IMO the reference behaviour of functions in the C API could be >clearer. One often has to simply know, or refer to the docs, to tell >whether a particular call steals a reference or is reference neutral. >Take, for example, PyDict_SetItemString vs PyMapping_SetItemString . Is >it obvious that one of those steals a reference, and one is reference >neutral? Is there any obvious rationale behind this? I'm not overflowing >with useful suggestions about this, but I do think it'd be nice if there >was a way to more easily tell how functions behave in regard to >reference counts. . . . This is a sensitive area for me, too. I'd welcome insight on how to think about this. If Pythonia were a better place in this regard, how would it be? Reference documents that more transparently define reference behavior? A convention for API names that reveals reference characteristics? Is there someone who's confident with Python use through C that has a reliable process for getting reference counts right? -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list