Prerequisites

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Description

Integers consumed by a C# application embedding IronPython 2.7.8 see long integers returned as System.Numerics.BigInteger even though they would fit inside an Int64.

Steps to Reproduce

IronPython 2.7.8 (2.7.8.0) on .NET 4.0.30319.42000 (64-bit)
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>>> a = 2**30
>>> a
1073741824
>>> a.GetType()
<System.RuntimeType object at 0x000000000000006E [System.Int32]>
>>> a = 2**31
>>> a
2147483648L
>>> a.GetType()
<System.RuntimeType object at 0x000000000000006D [System.Numerics.BigInteger]>
>>> a = System.Int64(2**31)
>>> a
2147483648L
>>> a.GetType()
<System.RuntimeType object at 0x000000000000006F [System.Int64]>
>>>

Expected behavior: Expectation is that values representable as an Int64 would be returned to the CLR world as Int64, and System.Numerics.BigInteger types would not enter the picture unless a value was too large for a 64-bit integer.

Actual behavior: CLR sees Python integers over some threshold between 2**30 and 2**31 as BigInteger, and an explicit cast is required to make sure the CLR sees a long integer as an Int64.

Versions

IronPython 2.7.8 (2.7.8.0) on .NET 4.0.30319.42000 (64-bit)
Behavior also reproduced in 2.7.3 (2.7.0.40).