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Python's semantics do not have a standards document or specification. It's based on its reference implementation (CPython) and different variations of Python ev

• eesmith 3y ago
  It isn't as dire as you suggest. The language reference at https://docs.python.org/3/reference/index.html https://docs.python.org/3/reference/index.html "describes the syntax and “core semantics” of the language.". There has been a distinction between Python-the-language and CPython-the-implementation ever since JPython back in the 1990s. For example, reference counting is a CPython implementation details. The reference manual says only: > Objects are never explicitly destroyed; however, when they become unreachable they may be garbage-collected. An implementation is allowed to postpone garbage collection or omit it altogether — it is a matter of implementation quality how garbage collection is implemented, as long as no objects are collected that are still reachable. (Quoting https://docs.python.org/3/reference/datamodel.html https://docs.python.org/3/reference/datamodel.html )
  • Kranar 3y ago
    Absolutely, but note what your very quote says "describes ... the language" rather than "prescribes ... the language". A standards document or specification's purpose is to "prescribe" how a system shall work in order to be compliant as opposed to a reference which documents how systems currently happen to work.