Name	Size	Mode	Actions
abstract.rst.txt	715	0644	editdlrm
allocation.rst.txt	2653	0644	editdlrm
apiabiversion.rst.txt	2242	0644	editdlrm
arg.rst.txt	30651	0644	editdlrm
bool.rst.txt	1200	0644	editdlrm
buffer.rst.txt	22267	0644	editdlrm
bytearray.rst.txt	2250	0644	editdlrm
bytes.rst.txt	9211	0644	editdlrm
capsule.rst.txt	5741	0644	editdlrm
cell.rst.txt	1940	0644	editdlrm
code.rst.txt	1666	0644	editdlrm
codec.rst.txt	4799	0644	editdlrm
complex.rst.txt	3946	0644	editdlrm
concrete.rst.txt	2046	0644	editdlrm
conversion.rst.txt	5516	0644	editdlrm
coro.rst.txt	820	0644	editdlrm
datetime.rst.txt	6415	0644	editdlrm
descriptor.rst.txt	1111	0644	editdlrm
dict.rst.txt	7952	0644	editdlrm
exceptions.rst.txt	47814	0644	editdlrm
file.rst.txt	3248	0644	editdlrm
float.rst.txt	2243	0644	editdlrm
function.rst.txt	3348	0644	editdlrm
gcsupport.rst.txt	6057	0644	editdlrm
gen.rst.txt	1301	0644	editdlrm
import.rst.txt	12825	0644	editdlrm
index.rst.txt	613	0644	editdlrm
init.rst.txt	52383	0644	editdlrm
intro.rst.txt	28751	0644	editdlrm
iter.rst.txt	1129	0644	editdlrm
iterator.rst.txt	1640	0644	editdlrm
list.rst.txt	4735	0644	editdlrm
long.rst.txt	10436	0644	editdlrm
mapping.rst.txt	2871	0644	editdlrm
marshal.rst.txt	3561	0644	editdlrm
memory.rst.txt	21369	0644	editdlrm
memoryview.rst.txt	2348	0644	editdlrm
method.rst.txt	2818	0644	editdlrm
module.rst.txt	18266	0644	editdlrm
none.rst.txt	740	0644	editdlrm
number.rst.txt	10583	0644	editdlrm
objbuffer.rst.txt	2198	0644	editdlrm
object.rst.txt	17420	0644	editdlrm
objimpl.rst.txt	304	0644	editdlrm
refcounting.rst.txt	2909	0644	editdlrm
reflection.rst.txt	1417	0644	editdlrm
sequence.rst.txt	6547	0644	editdlrm
set.rst.txt	6144	0644	editdlrm
slice.rst.txt	2404	0644	editdlrm
stable.rst.txt	1969	0644	editdlrm
structures.rst.txt	13787	0644	editdlrm
sys.rst.txt	9944	0644	editdlrm
tuple.rst.txt	8031	0644	editdlrm
type.rst.txt	3963	0644	editdlrm
typeobj.rst.txt	60184	0644	editdlrm
unicode.rst.txt	68074	0644	editdlrm
utilities.rst.txt	414	0644	editdlrm
veryhigh.rst.txt	16655	0644	editdlrm
weakref.rst.txt	2635	0644	editdlrm

.. highlightlang:: c .. _stable: *********************************** Stable Application Binary Interface *********************************** Traditionally, the C API of Python will change with every release. Most changes will be source-compatible, typically by only adding API, rather than changing existing API or removing API (although some interfaces do get removed after being deprecated first). Unfortunately, the API compatibility does not extend to binary compatibility (the ABI). The reason is primarily the evolution of struct definitions, where addition of a new field, or changing the type of a field, might not break the API, but can break the ABI. As a consequence, extension modules need to be recompiled for every Python release (although an exception is possible on Unix when none of the affected interfaces are used). In addition, on Windows, extension modules link with a specific pythonXY.dll and need to be recompiled to link with a newer one. Since Python 3.2, a subset of the API has been declared to guarantee a stable ABI. Extension modules wishing to use this API (called "limited API") need to define ``Py_LIMITED_API``. A number of interpreter details then become hidden from the extension module; in return, a module is built that works on any 3.x version (x>=2) without recompilation. In some cases, the stable ABI needs to be extended with new functions. Extension modules wishing to use these new APIs need to set ``Py_LIMITED_API`` to the ``PY_VERSION_HEX`` value (see :ref:`apiabiversion`) of the minimum Python version they want to support (e.g. ``0x03030000`` for Python 3.3). Such modules will work on all subsequent Python releases, but fail to load (because of missing symbols) on the older releases. As of Python 3.2, the set of functions available to the limited API is documented in :pep:`384`. In the C API documentation, API elements that are not part of the limited API are marked as "Not part of the limited API."