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diff --git a/pipermail/pycrypto/2009q2/000085.html b/pipermail/pycrypto/2009q2/000085.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d9eea34 --- /dev/null +++ b/pipermail/pycrypto/2009q2/000085.html @@ -0,0 +1,111 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> +<HTML> + <HEAD> + <TITLE> [pycrypto] Library design philosophy + </TITLE> + <LINK REL="Index" HREF="index.html" > + <LINK REL="made" HREF="mailto:pycrypto%40lists.dlitz.net?Subject=%5Bpycrypto%5D%20Library%20design%20philosophy&In-Reply-To=20090412143621.GA19936%40shannon"> + <META NAME="robots" CONTENT="index,nofollow"> + <META http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> + <LINK REL="Previous" HREF="000084.html"> + <LINK REL="Next" HREF="000086.html"> + </HEAD> + <BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff"> + <H1>[pycrypto] Library design philosophy</H1> + <B>Mads Kiilerich</B> + <A HREF="mailto:pycrypto%40lists.dlitz.net?Subject=%5Bpycrypto%5D%20Library%20design%20philosophy&In-Reply-To=20090412143621.GA19936%40shannon" + TITLE="[pycrypto] Library design philosophy">mads at kiilerich.com + </A><BR> + <I>Sun Apr 12 14:57:31 CST 2009</I> + <P><UL> + <LI>Previous message: <A HREF="000084.html">[pycrypto] Library design philosophy +</A></li> + <LI>Next message: <A HREF="000086.html">[pycrypto] Library design philosophy +</A></li> + <LI> <B>Messages sorted by:</B> + <a href="date.html#85">[ date ]</a> + <a href="thread.html#85">[ thread ]</a> + <a href="subject.html#85">[ subject ]</a> + <a href="author.html#85">[ author ]</a> + </LI> + </UL> + <HR> +<!--beginarticle--> +<PRE>Legrandin wrote, On 04/12/2009 04:36 PM +><i> I think that pycrypto is a great project, but the dependency +</I>><i> on the C files to carry out the core operation in a way defeats +</I>><i> the purpose of the library (i.e. being scriptable and platform +</I>><i> independent). +</I>><i> +</I>><i> Of course performance is important, but if I really need to be fast +</I>><i> my first choice is to use some wrapper to openssl or libtomcrypt +</I>><i> (e.g m2crypto). On the other hand, the most value I find in pycrypto +</I>><i> is it being (also) a command-line crypto workbench. +</I>><i> +</I>><i> What's your view on this? I appreciate that for some algorithms +</I>><i> both versions can be used (C vs python), but for instance there is no way +</I>><i> to use AES w/o having to go through the compilation step. To me, it's +</I>><i> should be the other way around, first Python code, then C routines. +</I>><i> +</I> +Well ... you can have your opinion if I (a random user) can have mine ;-) + +Pycrypto does not claim to be a pure-python crypto library. If you +expect it to be that then it probably won't meet your expectations. + +Pycrypto _is_ cross-platform, and written in a combination of platform +independent C and python, just like Python is. (FWIW, pycrypto _is_ +partly a "libtomcrypt wrapper", see +<A HREF="http://www.dlitz.net/software/pycrypto/doc/#credits.">http://www.dlitz.net/software/pycrypto/doc/#credits.</A>) Pycrypto _is_ +fast. Perhaps not as fast as other optimized libraries are, but it can +be used where performance is important. + +Some advantages of pycrypto are that it is small, has a simple pythonic +API, and don't have any external dependencies. It is not a incomplete +wrapper of a huge and complex API (such as the openssl API). + +Pure python implementations _could_ be added, but they would probably +not really be usable. Users getting this slow fallback would probably be +annoyed or complain about the performance instead of fixing the problem +by installing the right compiled version. It would also double the cost +of maintenance of the library. But a pure python implementation would be +convenient for verification of correctness and for documentation purposes. + +(Note: I don't understand your comments about being scriptable and a +command-line crypto workbench. That seems to be features related to +using Python, independent of which crypto library you use.) + +/Mads + + +-------------- next part -------------- +A non-text attachment was scrubbed... +Name: smime.p7s +Type: application/pkcs7-signature +Size: 3435 bytes +Desc: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature +Url : <A HREF="http://lists.dlitz.net/pipermail/pycrypto/attachments/20090412/39e4e817/attachment.bin">http://lists.dlitz.net/pipermail/pycrypto/attachments/20090412/39e4e817/attachment.bin</A> +</PRE> + + + +<!--endarticle--> + <HR> + <P><UL> + <!--threads--> + <LI>Previous message: <A HREF="000084.html">[pycrypto] Library design philosophy +</A></li> + <LI>Next message: <A HREF="000086.html">[pycrypto] Library design philosophy +</A></li> + <LI> <B>Messages sorted by:</B> + <a href="date.html#85">[ date ]</a> + <a href="thread.html#85">[ thread ]</a> + <a href="subject.html#85">[ subject ]</a> + <a href="author.html#85">[ author ]</a> + </LI> + </UL> + +<hr> +<a href="http://lists.dlitz.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pycrypto">More information about the pycrypto +mailing list</a><br> +</body></html> |