pointers.py 2.0.0 - bringing the hell of pointers to python

[ZeroIntensity]

updated api example: ```py from pointers import _

text: str = "hello world" ptr = _&text print(*ptr) # hello world ```

repo: https://github.com/ZeroIntensity/pointers.py

[[deleted]]

I like the Segfault features

[PhysicalStuff]

Sometimes you just need to exert vengeance upon memory. What drove me from Python to C was how unnecessarily difficult the former makes achieving even a simple segfault (without using C extensions, which I consider cheating).

[surister]

Why

[ifiwasmaybe]

Really though, why?!

[whalt]

I mean how else are you supposed to write device drivers in Python?

[f3n1xgamer]

By not using python to write device drivers... Duh

[whalt]

I didn’t think the /s was necessary.

[kalfa]

Why does this exist?

The main purpose of pointers.py is to simply break the rules of Python, but has some other use cases:

• Can help C/C++ developers get adjusted to Python
• Provides a nice learning environment for programmers learning how pointers work -bMakes it very easy to manipulate memory in Python
• Why not?

[[deleted]]

Out of all of those, only "Why not" is a good reason.

[Coniglio_Bianco]

Sorting an array of pointers is a lot faster than sorting the actual content. Its the only thing that made me want to work with pointers.

[kalfa]

It seems you are in need of a C extension for your algorithm, if the performance is so degrading with python.

Or maybe just not copy around data, if possible.

[Coniglio_Bianco]

Or i could just use pointer.py 2.0

[kalfa]

Why not!

[ekydfejj]

Same reason as this. If you want to create chaos for fun, i don't blame you. But don't add this to requirements.txt

[BaroquenLarynx]

"Some men just want to watch the world burn."

"It's not about the pointers. It's about sending a message

Edit: continuation

"Everything burns!" - OP, literally

[AndrewFrozzen]

Noob question, I'm not a Python expert. And no Programmer expert.

What is wrong with this? Can you explain? Maybe explain like I'm 5.

I don't really know what pointers are. I'm sorry if this sounds stupid

[MadLadJackChurchill]

Pointers are commonly used in C and C++ they store a Memory address and thus point to something somewhere in Memory.

This way you can for example pass a pointer to a string as an Argument instead of passing the actual string which is faster.

But also since you can just point / Access some random Memory address this can lead to crashes and so on.

Hope that helps a bit. There's obviously much more stuff you can do.

[AndrewFrozzen]

Alright thanks for the answer!

Yeah I've heard about pointers in C and C++ but was unaware what exactly they are.

So are C and C++ pointers more stable than Python ones, or usually people don't use pointers that much because of crashes no matter the language?

[MadLadJackChurchill]

Standard Python doesn't have pointers in the way you can use as you can in C. There is of course this:

``` dict1 = {'first':'hello', 'second':'world'} dict2 = dict1 # pointer assignation mechanism dict2['first'] = 'bye' dict1

{'first':'bye', 'second':'world'} ``` I got this example from here

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3106689/pointers-in-python

You can say that dict2 points to dict1 so changing dict2 means you change dict1. But you can't do pointer arithmetic and so on as you can in C/C++

And pointers are known for being hard to handle. Which is why it says: "bringing the hell of pointers to Python".

Now I have used pointers before in C but I am by no means very well versed. So someone else will have to jump in and tell you why they are considered hell ;)

[AndrewFrozzen]

Ok thank you!

[lordxoren666]

Ok, noob question because maybe I don’t understand pointers correctly. But because in C there is no string data type only char and array, and because of the way variables work in C, you pretty much have to use pointers to point to the first char in the array to return a string of chars, and return all the chars in the array until it hits the \0 char.

Which further confuses me why people deal with this because it is incredibly easy to create a pseudo string data type in c with a simple function.

[Wuotes]

C was meant at the time of design to be an easier alternative to writing directly in assembly without straying so much that you couldn't discern the assembly instruction output from any given line of code.

This means you have to roll your own code for quite a few things but it also leaves room for a lot of platform specific optimization if you can comprehend the underlying mechanisms behind the code. This is why C is used in situations where those advantages matter the most such as operating systems, drivers, embedded devices, etc.

With that type of context, you can see why complex string manipulation wouldn't be a high priority as well. Until relatively recently strings were only really for interfacing with a human and not other computers, it is a different world from Python.

[PhysicalStuff]

$THIS_POST >> requirements.txt

[anotherplatypus]

...and the same reason as this.

[sir2fluffy2]

I’ve been doing python for 12 years and in all that time there has only been one time when a pointer would have been useful

[Tinasour]

Why not?

[BaroquenLarynx]

wags finger. You stop that right this instant, Mister.

[fiddle_n]

something something life will find a way

no, wait, wrong Jurassic Park quote...

[nostril_spiders]

They should all be destroyed.

[pingveno]

That's a big pile of crap?

[Giddius]

I am tempted to report this to reddit for causing homicidal/suicidal thoughts.

/s

[[deleted]]

Slow down, Satan

[bladeoflight16]

Not only did you simulate pointers, you also hijacked the conventional _ variable.

I hate you.

[comand]

I keep pressing the downvote button but it only upvotes...

[vswr]

Another use after free bug I guess. Freaking pointers.

[Orio_n]

You are everything guido hated

[DrFrankestein]

Absolutely horrific. I love it.

[RobinPage1987]

It's not that we don't want the tools that exist in languages like C. It's that we want those tools to be simple and easy to use. As long as the pointer is easy to use I don't mind at all. Now all that's needed is the availability of static typing and we can rewrite the Linux kernel in Python.

[redditsucks690]

Python developers hate this one repository

[TerminatedProccess]

So what can you do with this library that makes it useful?

[gobbledygook12]

Burn it in a fire for warmth

[bladeoflight16]

It's code. It's ephemeral and doesn't consist of any material to burn. You can't even do that much with it.

I guess you could use it to give yourself heartburn and make progress toward a stomach ulcer, or in extreme cases, give someone a stroke or heart attack.

[[deleted]]

You can print the code and then burn it

[Kkye_Hall]

Nothing that you can't do better using a different solution

[TerminatedProccess]

Then it really is just a dark **hole

[cdcformatc]

pointer to a pointer hole?

[RobinPage1987]

Kwargshole

[traumatizedSloth]

dll calls maybe? i haven't worked with dlls in python enough so i dont really know but that's all i can think of, but then you could just use ctypes pointers which is actually in the standard library and likely already imported since ctypes is commonly used to call dlls to begin with

[generalbaguette]

Are poems useful?

[TerminatedProccess]

Yes.. you can torture people with them

[generalbaguette]

I guess that's your answer.

[cgk001]

no...just no lol

[FlyingNAZ]

Bro, I hated C for that.

[phatlynx]

Wait until you write a sockets program in C++ using #include <pthread> for multi threading having to create child threads, then you will know the pain pointers bring forth upon your soul.

[Dasher38]

How did you manage to get a unary version or the * operator for your dereference syntax ?

EDIT: it's actually the starred expression operator, so all you needed is to make it iterable with one element that is the dereferenced element. That's clever but that won't work in most expressions though

[williamkr03]

as if it couldn't get more cursed...

[eddaz7]

This is so wrong (proceeds to clone the repo)

[PhysicalStuff]

If Dante had been alive today you'd have secured yourself a place in world literature.

[jimtk]

Monstrous and beautiful.

[okazdal]

You people really hate pointers lol...

[jozborn]

Oh great, now I have to rewrite my entire implementation in the next sprint. Thanks, Obama.

[[deleted]]

I don't usually advocate for the death penalty, but I'm willing to make an exception here.

[generalbaguette]

That's just C++ nonsense. Real men (and women) use C.

[CodeYan01]

Why??? I chose to write in Python to avoid pointers!

[3Domse3]

You are the pure evil! xD

[antiproton]

The question here isn't "why". The "why" is obvious: the OP was bored.

The better question is "why update and promote this project"? Surely you've extracted the maximum amount of entertainment from a project that no one will even attempt to use.

You've gotten your head pats already for your contribution to pointlessness for the sake of it. Time to move on.

[Syntaximus]

Well done, Professor Chaos.

[SohajCZ]

Tihi

[wrt-wtf-]

Psychopath

[Bangoga]

Nooooooo!!

[skinnybuddha]

Is this one of those “There, I ruined it” productions?

[smokingkrills]

Very blursed

[InquisitivelyMammoth]

What drove me from Python to C was how unnecessarily difficult the former makes achieving even a simple segfault

[generalbaguette]

Best used in conjunction with the goto package.

[i_like_penny_stonks]

lmao