Issue #23756: Clarify the terms "contiguous" and "bytes-like object".

Patch by Martin Panter.

1 files changed, 16 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/Doc/glossary.rst b/Doc/glossary.rst
index d00185e386..846c01ae49 100644
--- a/Doc/glossary.rst
+++ b/Doc/glossary.rst
@@ -109,8 +109,10 @@ Glossary
          A :term:`text file` reads and writes :class:`str` objects.
 
    bytes-like object
-      An object that supports the :ref:`bufferobjects`, like :class:`bytes`,
-      :class:`bytearray` or :class:`memoryview`.  Bytes-like objects can
+      An object that supports the :ref:`bufferobjects` and can
+      export a C-:term:`contiguous` buffer. This includes all :class:`bytes`,
+      :class:`bytearray`, and :class:`array.array` objects, as well as many
+      common :class:`memoryview` objects.  Bytes-like objects can
       be used for various operations that work with binary data; these include
       compression, saving to a binary file, and sending over a socket.
 
@@ -169,6 +171,18 @@ Glossary
       statement by defining :meth:`__enter__` and :meth:`__exit__` methods.
       See :pep:`343`.
 
+   contiguous
+      .. index:: C-contiguous, Fortran contiguous
+
+      A buffer is considered contiguous exactly if it is either
+      *C-contiguous* or *Fortran contiguous*.  Zero-dimensional buffers are
+      C and Fortran contiguous.  In one-dimensional arrays, the items
+      must be layed out in memory next to each other, in order of
+      increasing indexes starting from zero.  In multidimensional
+      C-contiguous arrays, the last index varies the fastest when
+      visiting items in order of memory address.  However, in
+      Fortran contiguous arrays, the first index varies the fastest.
+
    coroutine
       Coroutines is a more generalized form of subroutines. Subroutines are
       entered at one point and exited at another point.  Coroutines can be