report at bugs
Jul 4, 2009, 12:46 AM
Views: 249
Permalink
|
|
[issue6414] struct module : processor endianness descriptions misleading
|
|
New submission from Karl Magdsick <kmagdsick[at]hotmail.com>:
In http://docs.python.org/dev/library/struct.html,
it says
"Native byte order is big-endian or little-endian, depending on the host
system. For example, Motorola and Sun processors are big-endian; Intel
and DEC processors are little-endian."
This is a gross over-generalization at best. Off the top of my head,
current Linux kernels run the Intel Itanium in big-endian mode. (Though,
I don't recall if there's a non-privileged instruction to flip
endianness, system headers and system calls are defined in big-endian
order, which is what's most relevant to the struct module.) Sun SPARC
v9 is bi-endian. Intel Itanium and XScale processors are bi-endian. Dec
Alphas are bi-endian. (Though, I'm only aware of Cray using Alphas in
big-endian mode.)
The quoted paragraph should name specific processors which are single-
endian (Intel Core 2, Sun SPARC v8) and/or provide a Wikipedia
reference, rather than making incorrect statements.
Intel Itanium machines running Linux are probably the most common
systems where this statement's inaccuracy is likely to cause confusion
among developers.
----------
assignee: georg.brandl
components: Documentation
messages: 90107
nosy: georg.brandl, kmag
severity: normal
status: open
title: struct module : processor endianness descriptions misleading
versions: Python 2.4, Python 2.5, Python 2.6, Python 2.7, Python 3.0, Python 3.1
_______________________________________
Python tracker <report[at]bugs.python.org>
<http://bugs.python.org/issue6414>
_______________________________________
_______________________________________________
Python-bugs-list mailing list
Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-bugs-list/list-python-bugs%40lists.gossamer-threads.com
|
[issue6414] struct module : processor endianness descriptions misleading
