Index: Objects/intobject.c
===================================================================
--- Objects/intobject.c	(revision 65221)
+++ Objects/intobject.c	(working copy)
@@ -1138,6 +1138,21 @@
 	return NULL;
 }
 
+static PyObject *
+int_numbits(PyIntObject *v)
+{
+	long n = v->ob_ival;
+	long result = 0;
+
+	if (n < 0)
+		n = -n;
+	while (n) {
+		++result;
+		n >>= 1;
+	}
+	return PyInt_FromLong(result);
+}
+
 #if 0
 static PyObject *
 int_is_finite(PyObject *v)
@@ -1147,6 +1162,8 @@
 #endif
 
 static PyMethodDef int_methods[] = {
+	{"numbits",	(PyCFunction)int_numbits, METH_NOARGS,
+	 "Returns the number of binary digits in self."},
 	{"conjugate",	(PyCFunction)int_int,	METH_NOARGS,
 	 "Returns self, the complex conjugate of any int."},
 #if 0
Index: Objects/longobject.c
===================================================================
--- Objects/longobject.c	(revision 65221)
+++ Objects/longobject.c	(working copy)
@@ -3447,6 +3447,12 @@
 	return PyInt_FromSsize_t(res);
 }
 
+static PyObject *
+long_numbits(PyLongObject *v)
+{
+	return PyInt_FromSize_t(_PyLong_NumBits((PyObject *)v));
+}
+
 #if 0
 static PyObject *
 long_is_finite(PyObject *v)
@@ -3456,6 +3462,8 @@
 #endif
 
 static PyMethodDef long_methods[] = {
+	{"numbits",	(PyCFunction)long_numbits, METH_NOARGS,
+	 "Returns the number of binary digits in self."},
 	{"conjugate",	(PyCFunction)long_long,	METH_NOARGS,
 	 "Returns self, the complex conjugate of any long."},
 #if 0
@@ -3472,6 +3480,10 @@
 };
 
 static PyGetSetDef long_getset[] = {
+/*    {"numbits", 
+     (getter)PyLong_NumBits, (setter)NULL,
+     "number of bits in an integer",
+     NULL}, */
     {"real", 
      (getter)long_long, (setter)NULL,
      "the real part of a complex number",
Index: Lib/test/test_int.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_int.py	(revision 65221)
+++ Lib/test/test_int.py	(working copy)
@@ -240,6 +240,21 @@
         self.assertEqual(int('2br45qc', 35), 4294967297L)
         self.assertEqual(int('1z141z5', 36), 4294967297L)
 
+    def test_numbits(self):
+        self.assertEqual((0).numbits(), 0)
+        self.assertEqual((1).numbits(), 1)
+        self.assertEqual((-1).numbits(), 1)
+        self.assertEqual((2).numbits(), 2)
+        self.assertEqual((-2).numbits(), 2)
+        for i in [2, 3, 15, 16, 17, 31, 32, 33, 63, 64]:
+            a = 2**i
+            self.assertEqual((a-1).numbits(), i)
+            self.assertEqual((1-a).numbits(), i)
+            self.assertEqual((a).numbits(), i+1)
+            self.assertEqual((-a).numbits(), i+1)
+            self.assertEqual((a+1).numbits(), i+1)
+            self.assertEqual((-a-1).numbits(), i+1)
+
     def test_intconversion(self):
         # Test __int__()
         class ClassicMissingMethods:
Index: Lib/test/test_long.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_long.py	(revision 65221)
+++ Lib/test/test_long.py	(working copy)
@@ -747,6 +747,22 @@
         self.assertRaises(OverflowError, long, float('inf'))
         self.assertEqual(long(float('nan')), 0L)
 
+    def test_numbits(self):
+        self.assertEqual((0L).numbits(), 0)
+        self.assertEqual((1L).numbits(), 1)
+        self.assertEqual((-1L).numbits(), 1)
+        self.assertEqual((2L).numbits(), 2)
+        self.assertEqual((-2L).numbits(), 2)
+        for i in [2, 3, 15, 16, 17, 31, 32, 33, 63, 64, 234]:
+            a = 2L**i
+            self.assertEqual((a-1).numbits(), i)
+            self.assertEqual((1-a).numbits(), i)
+            self.assertEqual((a).numbits(), i+1)
+            self.assertEqual((-a).numbits(), i+1)
+            self.assertEqual((a+1).numbits(), i+1)
+            self.assertEqual((-a-1).numbits(), i+1)
+
+
 def test_main():
     test_support.run_unittest(LongTest)