bpo-46541: Replace core use of _Py_IDENTIFIER() with statically initialized global objects. by ericsnowcurrently · Pull Request #30928 · python/cpython
In this PR we're no longer using _Py_IDENTIFIER() (or _Py_static_string()) in any core CPython code. It is still used in a number of non-builtin stdlib modules.
The replacement is: PyUnicodeObject (not pointer) fields under _PyRuntimeState, statically initialized as part of _PyRuntime. A new _Py_GET_GLOBAL_IDENTIFIER() macro facilitates lookup of the fields (along with _Py_GET_GLOBAL_STRING() for non-identifier strings).
https://bugs.python.org/issue46541#msg411799 explains the rationale for this change.
The core of the change is in:
- (new) Include/internal/pycore_global_strings.h - the declarations for the global strings, along with the macros
- Include/internal/pycore_runtime_init.h - added the static initializers for the global strings
- Include/internal/pycore_global_objects.h - where the struct in pycore_global_strings.h is hooked into
_PyRuntimeState - Tools/scripts/generate_global_objects.py - added generation of the global string declarations and static initializers
I've also added a --check flag to generate_global_objects.py (along with make check-global-objects) to check for unused global strings. That check is added to the PR CI config.
The remainder of the PR updates the core code to use _Py_GET_GLOBAL_IDENTIFIER() instead of _Py_IDENTIFIER() and the related _Py*Id functions (likewise for _Py_GET_GLOBAL_STRING() instead of _Py_static_string()). This includes adding a few functions where there wasn't already an alternative to _Py*Id(), replacing the _Py_Identifier * parameter with PyObject *.
I'm planning on addressing the following separately:
- stop using
_Py_IDENTIFIER()in the stdlib modules - (maybe) get rid of
_Py_IDENTIFIER(), etc. entirely -- this may not be doable as at least one package on PyPI using this (private) API - (maybe) intern the strings during runtime init