array-like structures

[scott-griffiths]

The array module allows "Efficient arrays of numeric values" but is restricted to about a dozen types. We could make a generalised version of this.

from bitstring import Array
x = Array('H', data)

could behave in the same way as

from array import array
x = array('H', data)

but we can also do lots of fun stuff:

y = Array('uint4', data)
z = Array('float8_152', data)

basically anything that has a fixed length.

Other methods to implement would be those mirroring the array module:

count(x)
extend(iterable)
reverse()
tobytes()
tofile()
tolist()
pop([i])
insert(i, x)
remove(x)
append(x)
__getitem__
__setitem__
__delitem__

And there are a few extra that need considering:

find(x)
findall(x)
etc.

Also want conversion to and from the other bitstring types:

b = Bits(...)
a = Array('bfloat', b)
del a[5:17]
a.insert(b, 4)  # implicit conversion to the same Array type?
c = BitArray(a)

I think I'd also be in favour of allowing an integer to make a zeroed Array

x = bitstring.Array('float8_143', 100)
x[4:50:3] = 2.3

I feel that the Array elements should be mutable to mirror the array behaviour. So in practice this would be a wrapper around a BitArray object?

[scott-griffiths]

Done in version 4.1.