From fb2718720346c8c7a0ad2d7477f20e9a5524ea0c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Stargirl Flowers Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2020 08:20:12 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] [doc] struct: update note about network byte order form to be more helpful (GH-22201) Update the sentence to provide some context on why network byte order is defined as big endian. --- Doc/library/struct.rst | 6 ++++-- 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/Doc/library/struct.rst b/Doc/library/struct.rst index 856b6da8bb2..eccba20fb8f 100644 --- a/Doc/library/struct.rst +++ b/Doc/library/struct.rst @@ -159,8 +159,8 @@ the :ref:`format-characters` section. Note the difference between ``'@'`` and ``'='``: both use native byte order, but the size and alignment of the latter is standardized. -The form ``'!'`` is available for those poor souls who claim they can't remember -whether network byte order is big-endian or little-endian. +The form ``'!'`` represents the network byte order which is always big-endian +as defined in `IETF RFC 1700 `_. There is no way to indicate non-native byte order (force byte-swapping); use the appropriate choice of ``'<'`` or ``'>'``. @@ -467,3 +467,5 @@ The :mod:`struct` module also defines the following type: .. _half precision format: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-precision_floating-point_format .. _ieee 754 standard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_floating_point#IEEE_754-2008 + +.. _IETF RFC 1700: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1700