gh-88427: Deprecate `socket.SocketType` by rruuaanng · Pull Request #126272 · python/cpython · GitHub

I propose to deprecate socket.SocketType. There's no reason to publicly expose _socket.socket separately from socket.socket, the only type that moat users should care about.
SocketType isn't needed for type checking; socket.socket is itself a class and can be used in type annotations.

cc @JelleZijlstra

Issue: SocketType documentation misleading #88427

SocketType isn't deprecated right now, so we can't remove it yet.

Please update the PR to raise a DeprecationWarning when accessing a SocketType (you can do this via a PEP-562 __getattr__), and then add the documentation notes.

Maybe we can wait for the promoter to answer. I won't open this PR before I decide whether to abandon or remove it.

I looked at the code again and agree with my opinion from 2021: it should be deprecated and eventually removed.

It could be useful to do a code search (e.g., GitHub code search, Hugo's top 5k pypi packages tool) to see how the name is being used.

A possible approach to deprecation could be to remove the current line adding it to _socket, and add a module __getattr__ to both the _socket and socket modules that raises a DeprecationWarning and then returns _socket.socket.

Okay, I'll re-revise this PR so that it throws a warning when calling this type. Call me back in this PR when we consider removing it in the future :)

It seems that the module __getattr__ only works for attributes that do not exist, which makes it necessary to remove the export in socketmodule. But it triggers a deprecation warning. Emmm...

It seems that the module getattr only works for attributes that do not exist, which makes it necessary to remove the export in socketmodule. But it triggers a deprecation warning. Emmm...

It works for any kind of attributes. Please, read PEP-562 for examples on how to use it.

It seems that the module getattr only works for attributes that do not exist, which makes it necessary to remove the export in socketmodule. But it triggers a deprecation warning. Emmm...

It works for any kind of attributes. Please, read PEP-562 for examples on how to use it.

I read the document and modified it. But why does it trigger this

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "D:\a\cpython\cpython\Lib\test\pythoninfo.py", line 1062, in collect_info
    collect_func(info_add)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^
  File "D:\a\cpython\cpython\Lib\test\pythoninfo.py", line 727, in collect_test_socket
    from test import test_socket
  File "D:\a\cpython\cpython\Lib\test\test_socket.py", line 201, in <module>
    HAVE_SOCKET_CAN = _have_socket_can()
  File "D:\a\cpython\cpython\Lib\test\test_socket.py", line 104, in _have_socket_can
    s = socket.socket(socket.PF_CAN, socket.SOCK_RAW, socket.CAN_RAW)
  File "D:\a\cpython\cpython\Lib\socket.py", line 242, in __init__
    _socket.socket.__init__(self, family, type, proto, fileno)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
TypeError: 'NoneType' object cannot be interpreted as an integer

Edit
It seems to be a consistent bug since I opened the PR.

I think you need to raise an AttributeError from the __getattr__ if it isn't SocketType.

@rruuaanng: Did you try your change before updating the PR? It doesn't work, no warning is emitted:

$ ./python
>>> import _socket
>>> _socket.SocketType
<class '_socket.socket'>

I suggest to mark the PR as a draft since it changes many times in a short time.

@vstinner
I forgot the most important step, removing its definition, and now it can successfully trigger deprecation ;-)

>>> import _socket
>>> _socket.SocketType
<python-input-1>:1: DeprecationWarning: It will be removed in 3.16. Use socket.socket type instead
  _socket.SocketType
<class '_socket.socket'>

I forgot the most important step

Right. Please test your change before publishing it.

…h88427

Please allow me to check again to see if there are any unresolved comments to decide whether we should remove the DO_NOT_MERGE tag.

test_socket and test_pickle are failing on the CI Ubuntu.

Oh.... I don't understand, I was looking for what was throwing the error so I ran the failing tests locally and it seemed like they all worked fine on my computer.

test_socket.py

PS E:\code\github\cpython\alpha\cpython-main> ./python -m unittest Lib\test\test_socket.py
Running Release|x64 interpreter...
.ss.sssssssss.......sssssssss.......................sss...ssss........ssssss.....................s...........................E:\code\github\cpython\alpha\cpython-main\Lib\socket.py:74: DeprecationWarning: _socket.SocketType is deprecated and will be removed in Python 3.16. Use socket.socket instead
  return _socket.SocketType
.s........s...s............sss.......s..........ssssss..s.s.ssssssssssss..........sssssss...............s..ss.....sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss...........ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss...........s..ss..ssssss.s.....sssssssss...............................................
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 732 tests in 69.918s

OK (skipped=485)

test_pickle.py

PS E:\code\github\cpython\alpha\cpython-main> ./python -m unittest Lib\test\test_pickle.py
Running Release|x64 interpreter...
...........s.................................................................................................................................s...........................................................................................................................................................s........................sss..............sss.......Can't import module 'multiprocessing.popen_fork': module 'os' has no attribute 'WNOHANG'
No module named '_gdbm'
No module named '_gdbm'
No module named 'dbm.bsd'
No module named '_dummy_thread'
No module named '_dbm'
No module named '_dbm'
.No module named '_dummy_thread'
No module named 'dbm.bsd'
No module named '_dbm'
No module named '_gdbm'
No module named '_dbm'
No module named '_gdbm'
..Can't import module 'multiprocessing.popen_fork': module 'os' has no attribute 'WNOHANG'
E:\code\github\cpython\alpha\cpython-main\Lib\socket.py:74: DeprecationWarning: _socket.SocketType is deprecated and will be removed in Python 3.16. Use socket.socket instead
  return _socket.SocketType
.No module named '_dummy_thread'
No module named '_dummy_thread'
No module named 'dbm.bsd'
No module named 'dbm.bsd'
No module named '_dbm'
No module named '_dbm'
No module named '_gdbm'
No module named '_gdbm'
.Can't import module 'multiprocessing.popen_fork': module 'os' has no attribute 'WNOHANG'
E:\code\github\cpython\alpha\cpython-main\Lib\socket.py:74: DeprecationWarning: _socket.SocketType is deprecated and will be removed in Python 3.16. Use socket.socket instead
  return _socket.SocketType
....s..........................................................................................................................s...............................sssss....sss......................sss...........................................................................................................s............................................................................................................................s......................................................sss..............sss........
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 865 tests in 13.836s

OK (skipped=30)

I tried removing my changes and ran test_pickle.py again, but the only difference was that the deprecation was gone.

PS E:\code\github\cpython\alpha\cpython-main> ./python -m unittest Lib\test\test_pickle.py
Running Release|x64 interpreter...
...........s.................................................................................................................................s...........................................................................................................................................................s........................sss..............sss.......No module named '_gdbm'
Can't import module 'multiprocessing.popen_fork': module 'os' has no attribute 'WNOHANG'
No module named '_dbm'
No module named 'dbm.bsd'
No module named '_dummy_thread'
No module named '_gdbm'
No module named '_dbm'
.No module named '_dummy_thread'
No module named 'dbm.bsd'
No module named '_dbm'
No module named '_gdbm'
No module named '_dbm'
No module named '_gdbm'
..Can't import module 'multiprocessing.popen_fork': module 'os' has no attribute 'WNOHANG'
.No module named '_dummy_thread'
No module named '_dummy_thread'
No module named 'dbm.bsd'
No module named 'dbm.bsd'
No module named '_dbm'
No module named '_dbm'
No module named '_gdbm'
No module named '_gdbm'
.Can't import module 'multiprocessing.popen_fork': module 'os' has no attribute 'WNOHANG'
....s..........................................................................................................................s...............................sssss....sss......................sss...........................................................................................................s............................................................................................................................s......................................................sss..............sss........
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 865 tests in 15.947s

OK (skipped=30)

test_socket.py passes the test perfectly fine and throws the deprecation, but test_pickle.py seems to throw an error that seems unrelated to the PR. But it is undeniable that my CI did not pass :(

Edit

test_pickle.py threw the same exception as my local test results on all three platforms.

Should sock_type get INCREF'd? I'm assuming its a static type and therefore immortal, but we should add a comment clarifying that.

I tried to search for situations where sock_type is used in socketmodule.c. In the scenario where Py_DECREF is used, only socket_clear uses Py_DECREF. And sock_type does not use Py_INCREF. And in other parts, it seems that there is no special comment.

This PR is stale because it has been open for 30 days with no activity.

rruuaanng changed the title gh88427: Deprecated socket.SocketType gh-88427: Deprecated socket.SocketType Nov 1, 2024

bedevere-app Bot mentioned this pull request Nov 1, 2024

SocketType documentation misleading #88427

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ZeroIntensity requested changes Nov 1, 2024

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bedevere-app Bot added the awaiting core review label Nov 1, 2024

deprecated SocketType

341a29e

rruuaanng force-pushed the gh88427 branch from e68ac9b to 341a29e Compare November 1, 2024 14:51

rruuaanng added 2 commits November 1, 2024 23:09

_socket.socket change to _socket.SocketType

a4ef847

Remove return

5a57cb1

ZeroIntensity reviewed Nov 1, 2024

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Comment thread Doc/library/socket.rst Outdated

Comment thread Lib/socket.py Outdated

Comment thread Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2024-11-01-20-09-53.gh-issue-88427.chYNT6.rst Outdated

rruuaanng added 2 commits November 1, 2024 23:19

Change docs

72f7c3d

Change NEWS

58b305d

picnixz reviewed Nov 1, 2024

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Comment thread Lib/socket.py Outdated

Comment thread Doc/library/socket.rst Outdated

Comment thread Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2024-11-01-20-09-53.gh-issue-88427.chYNT6.rst Outdated

rruuaanng added 3 commits November 1, 2024 23:25

Change docs

73b14ea

Change NEWS

2c2e8e3

Move import

3ea9169

picnixz reviewed Nov 1, 2024

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Comment thread Lib/socket.py

rruuaanng added 2 commits November 1, 2024 23:45

Add return

3b7d187

socket rename to SocketType

188a924

rruuaanng added 2 commits November 2, 2024 08:52

Remove defined

ce4bfa6

Return _socket.socket

362dbab

Add AttributeError

5042f2f

rruuaanng marked this pull request as ready for review November 2, 2024 01:50

bedevere-app Bot removed the awaiting core review label Nov 2, 2024

vstinner reviewed Nov 19, 2024

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Comment thread Modules/socketmodule.c Outdated

vstinner reviewed Nov 19, 2024

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Remove SocketType original definition

4d71bce

rruuaanng marked this pull request as draft November 19, 2024 13:53

bedevere-app Bot removed the awaiting merge label Nov 19, 2024

vstinner reviewed Nov 19, 2024

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Comment thread Lib/socket.py Outdated

ZeroIntensity reviewed Nov 19, 2024

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Comment thread Modules/socketmodule.c Outdated

rruuaanng and others added 6 commits November 19, 2024 22:09

_socket.socket change to _socket.SocketType

347c8e3

strcmp change to PyUnicode_EqualToUTF8

e625c64

Merge branch 'gh88427' of https://github.com/rruuaanng/cpython into g…

a909333

…h88427

Use a better implementation

0d836c4

Clear CI error

38efc89

Add cast

e07a953

rruuaanng marked this pull request as ready for review December 8, 2024 12:37

bedevere-app Bot added the awaiting review label Dec 8, 2024

rruuaanng requested review from ZeroIntensity and vstinner December 8, 2024 12:37

use _socket.SocketType

fae620a

Merge branch 'main' into gh88427

f029878

ZeroIntensity reviewed Dec 10, 2024

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rruuaanng marked this pull request as draft December 12, 2024 11:41

bedevere-app Bot removed the awaiting review label Dec 12, 2024

github-actions Bot added the stale Stale PR or inactive for long period of time. label Apr 19, 2026

gaborbernat mentioned this pull request May 31, 2026

gh-89554: Document socket.SocketType as a class #150683

Merged

+                      PyErr_Warn(PyExc_DeprecationWarning, "_socket.SocketType is deprecated and "
+                                                           "will be removed in Python 3.16. "
+                                                           "Use socket.socket instead");
+                      return state != NULL ? (PyObject *)state->sock_type : NULL;

gh-88427: Deprecate `socket.SocketType` by rruuaanng · Pull Request #126272 · python/cpython · GitHub

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gh-88427: Deprecate socket.SocketType - #126272

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gh-88427: Deprecate socket.SocketType#126272
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