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Re: Bytes indexing returns an int

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On Wed, Jan 8, 2014 at 11:15 AM, Steven D'Aprano
<steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> wrote:
> Why decide that the bytes type is best considered as a list of
> bytes rather than a string of bytes? It doesn't have any list methods, it
> looks like a string and people use it as a string. As you have discovered,
> it is an inconvenient annoyance that indexing returns an int instead of a
> one-byte byte-string.
>
> I think that, in hindsight, this was a major screw-up in Python 3.

Which part was? The fact that it can be represented with a (prefixed)
quoted string?

bytes_value = (41, 42, 43, 44)
string = bytes_value.decode()  # "ABCD"

I think it's more convenient to let people use a notation similar to
what was used in Py2, but perhaps this is an attractive nuisance, if
it gives rise to issues like this. If a bytes were more like a tuple
of ints (not a list - immutability is closer) than it is like a
string, would that be clearer?

Perhaps the solution isn't even a code one, but a mental one. "A bytes
is like a tuple of ints" might be a useful mantra.

ChrisA

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Thread

Bytes indexing returns an int Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-01-07 22:13 +1100
  Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Ervin Hegedüs <airween@gmail.com> - 2014-01-07 12:53 +0100
    Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-01-07 23:04 +1100
  Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2014-01-07 09:29 -0500
  Re: Bytes indexing returns an int David Robinow <drobinow@gmail.com> - 2014-01-07 10:19 -0500
    Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-01-08 03:12 +1100
      Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Serhiy Storchaka <storchaka@gmail.com> - 2014-01-07 21:48 +0200
      Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Robin Becker <robin@reportlab.com> - 2014-01-08 11:05 +0000
        Re: Bytes indexing returns an int wxjmfauth@gmail.com - 2014-01-08 08:08 -0800
          Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Ned Batchelder <ned@nedbatchelder.com> - 2014-01-08 12:19 -0500
            Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Piet van Oostrum <piet@vanoostrum.org> - 2014-01-09 18:05 +0100
              Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2014-01-09 09:28 -0800
              Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Serhiy Storchaka <storchaka@gmail.com> - 2014-01-09 21:36 +0200
          Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Michael Torrie <torriem@gmail.com> - 2014-01-08 10:25 -0700
  Re: Bytes indexing returns an int David Robinow <drobinow@gmail.com> - 2014-01-07 10:23 -0500
  Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2014-01-07 09:02 -0800
    Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2014-01-08 11:15 +1100
      Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-01-08 11:30 +1100
        Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2014-01-08 02:34 +0000
          Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2014-01-08 14:46 +1100
      Re: Bytes indexing returns an int Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2014-01-07 16:37 -0800

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