While I was backporting the new buffer API to 2.7 I noticed some issues 
in array_ass_slice() in Modules/arraymodule.c in the python 3k branch.

1) Manual memory reallocation had been replaced by calls to 
array_resize. But I think when PyMem_RESIZE is called the pointer to the 
memory might change. So this now happens in array_resize, and the
array->ob_item pointer changes but not it's local copy (item) in 
array_ass_slice().

2) The function moves too much memory if the array size is increased: 
(Py_SIZE(a)-d-ihigh) items should be moved, because Py_SIZE(a) was 
already modified by array_resize, but the function moves (Py_SIZE(a)-
ihigh) items.

While 1) might go unnoticed, 2) definitely broke slice tests in a 
"segmentation fault"-way (in debug mode forbidden bits show the error). 
I tried to write a test, but I don't know how to trigger 
array_ass_slice() with a write access, as it is not in array_as_sequence 
anymore (like in 2.7). How is slicing handled now?

The array type also defines tp_as_mapping->mp_ass_subscript, which has
priority in PyObject_SetItem().
A way to call array_ass_slice() is to use PySequence_SetItem(), but this
is hard to trigger from python code (it should be possible with ctypes).

The mp_ass_subscript function looks fine in contrast to array_ass_slice(). 
So if array_ass_slice() is not accessible from the outside and is only 
called with NULL as replacement parameter from the inside, I won't be able 
to cause trouble with those two issues.

Still I think it's bad to keep buggy code around, even it is not used. 
Maybe array_ass_slice() should be changed to what it's used for: 
array_del_slice()?

Stefan, IIRC you reworked some of the buffer/memoryview code.  Do you know if what is reported here is still an issue, and if so if it is worth fixing?

I think msg93598 sums it up: array_ass_slice() is only called with
v==NULL, so the issue can't be triggered.

However, it's pretty dirty to leave the code as is (IIRC Coverity
also had some complaints), so Chuck's suggestion to rewrite the
function as array_del_slice() seems good to me.

I attached a patch, in which I removed v and all code having to do with inserting elements. In particular, I changed the value of b to being positive, since there is no distinction between increasing and decreasing size anymore.

I've tested the reworked patch on Windows 7, ran 718 tests with 1 skipped both before and after applying the patch.

The patch looks good to me (assuming it still applies). Should also remove the “b” macro.

New changeset ab28676df655 by Martin Panter in branch 'default':
Issue #7063: Remove dead code from array slice handling
https://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/ab28676df655