[issue4783] json documentation needs a BAWM (Big A** Warning Message)
New submission from David M. Beazley beaz...@users.sourceforge.net: The json module is described as having an interface similar to pickle: json.dump() json.dumps() json.load() json.loads() I think it would be a WISE idea to add a huge warning message to the documentation that these functions should *NOT* be used to serialize or unserialize multiple objects on the same file stream like pickle. For example: f = open(stuff,w) json.dump(obj1, f) json.dump(obj2, f)# NO! FLAMING DEATH! f = open(stuff,r) obj1 = json.load(f) obj2 = json.load(f) # NO! EXTRA CRIPSY FLAMING DEATH! For one, it doesn't work. load() actually reads the whole file into a big string and tries to parse it as a single object. If there are multiple objects in the file, you get a nasty exeption. Second, I'm not even sure this is technically allowed by the JSON spec. As far as I call tell, concatenating JSON objects together in the same file falls into the same category as concatenating two HTML documents together in the same file (something you just don't do). Related: json.load() should probably not be used on any streaming input source such as a file wrapped around a socket. The first thing it does is consume the entire input by calling f.read()---which probably not what someone is expecting (and it might even cause the whole program to hang). -- assignee: georg.brandl components: Documentation messages: 78547 nosy: beazley, georg.brandl severity: normal status: open title: json documentation needs a BAWM (Big A** Warning Message) type: behavior versions: Python 2.6, Python 3.0 ___ Python tracker rep...@bugs.python.org http://bugs.python.org/issue4783 ___ ___ Python-bugs-list mailing list Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-bugs-list/archive%40mail-archive.com
[issue4783] json documentation needs a BAWM (Big A** Warning Message)
Changes by Benjamin Peterson benja...@python.org: -- assignee: georg.brandl - bob.ippolito nosy: +bob.ippolito ___ Python tracker rep...@bugs.python.org http://bugs.python.org/issue4783 ___ ___ Python-bugs-list mailing list Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-bugs-list/archive%40mail-archive.com
[issue4783] json documentation needs a BAWM (Big A** Warning Message)
Bob Ippolito b...@redivi.com added the comment: You're the first person to ever raise any of these issues in the slightly more than 3 years that the package has been around (by other names), so I'm not sure such a warning needs to be that big. JSON doesn't really have any framing, so serializing more than one document to or from the same place doesn't work so well. It's not even talked about in the spec, and I've never seen someone try it before. -- priority: - low ___ Python tracker rep...@bugs.python.org http://bugs.python.org/issue4783 ___ ___ Python-bugs-list mailing list Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-bugs-list/archive%40mail-archive.com
[issue4783] json documentation needs a BAWM (Big A** Warning Message)
David M. Beazley beaz...@users.sourceforge.net added the comment: Just consider me to be an impartial outside reviewer. Hypothetically, let's say I'm a Python programmer who knows a thing or two about standard library modules (like pickle), but I'm new to JSON so I come looking at the json module documentation. The documentation tells me it uses the same interface as pickle and marshal (even naming those two modules right off the bat). So, right away, I'm thinking the module probably does all of the usual things that pickle and marshal can do. For instance, serializing multiple objects to the same stream. However, it doesn't work this way and the only way to find out that it doesn't work is to either try it and get an error, or to read the source code and figure it out. I'm not reporting this as an end-user of the json module, but as a Python book author who is trying to get things right and to be precise. I think if you're going to keep the pickle and marshal reference I would add the warning message. Otherwise, I wouldn't mention pickle or marshal at all. ___ Python tracker rep...@bugs.python.org http://bugs.python.org/issue4783 ___ ___ Python-bugs-list mailing list Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-bugs-list/archive%40mail-archive.com
[issue4783] json documentation needs a BAWM (Big A** Warning Message)
Bob Ippolito b...@redivi.com added the comment: Ok, I've added some notes to the trunk of simplejson's documentation. Not sure when/if that'll hit the Python trunks, I've been having a hard time getting my other patches to sync up with simplejson through: http://bugs.python.org/issue4136 ___ Python tracker rep...@bugs.python.org http://bugs.python.org/issue4783 ___ ___ Python-bugs-list mailing list Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-bugs-list/archive%40mail-archive.com
[issue4783] json documentation needs a BAWM (Big A** Warning Message)
David M. Beazley beaz...@users.sourceforge.net added the comment: Thanks! Hopefully I'm not giving you too much work to do :-). Cheers, Dave ___ Python tracker rep...@bugs.python.org http://bugs.python.org/issue4783 ___ ___ Python-bugs-list mailing list Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-bugs-list/archive%40mail-archive.com
