python and HUGE_STACK_SIZE

[Steven Kreuzer]

On Mar 25, 2010, at 1:07 AM, Adam Vande More wrote:

> On Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 5:50 PM, Chuck Swiger <cswiger at mac.com> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> I've run and written quite a bit of Python (including Trac, Mailman, the
>> Python IDE, our own custom stuff [like some log munging and web processing
>> stuff], and even a few graphical Python games) without ever turning
>> HUGE_STACK_SIZE on.
>> 
>> I don't have any objection to turning it on, but it's not needed by default
>> for most things.  YMMV.
>> 
>> 
> Yes, I've had the same experience.  When doing socket level python stuff,
> I've had to increase the buffer size, which seems to be at least indirectly
> related to stack size but setting it manually has been easy enough.  Are
> there any negative repercussions to turning on huge ie like would scripts
> start using more memory, or is just giving them the ability to use it
> without explicitly setting it?

So, it seems like most of the time python scripts will work with HUGE_STACK_SIZE
turned off, but every once and a while some scripts will fail in non obvious ways
that could leave a person scratching their head for weeks trying to get to the bottom of it

To me, it seems like the best behavior would be to default to compiling with that set. I'll create
a patch over the weekend and open a PR

--
Steven Kreuzer
http://www.exit2shell.com/~skreuzer