Issue #21430: additions to the description of non-blocking SSL sockets

1 files changed, 20 insertions, 3 deletions

diff --git a/Doc/library/ssl.rst b/Doc/library/ssl.rst
index 94a0c81..b473c45 100644
--- a/Doc/library/ssl.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/ssl.rst
@@ -1588,8 +1588,19 @@ the sockets in non-blocking mode and use an event loop).
 Notes on non-blocking sockets
 -----------------------------
 
-When working with non-blocking sockets, there are several things you need
-to be aware of:
+SSL sockets behave slightly different than regular sockets in
+non-blocking mode. When working with non-blocking sockets, there are
+thus several things you need to be aware of:
+
+- Most :class:`SSLSocket` methods will raise either
+  :exc:`SSLWantWriteError` or :exc:`SSLWantReadError` instead of
+  :exc:`BlockingIOError` if an I/O operation would
+  block. :exc:`SSLWantReadError` will be raised if a read operation on
+  the underlying socket is necessary, and :exc:`SSLWantWriteError` for
+  a write operation on the underlying socket. Note that attempts to
+  *write* to an SSL socket may require *reading* from the underlying
+  socket first, and attempts to *read* from the SSL socket may require
+  a prior *write* to the underlying socket.
 
 - Calling :func:`~select.select` tells you that the OS-level socket can be
   read from (or written to), but it does not imply that there is sufficient
@@ -1598,8 +1609,14 @@ to be aware of:
   and :meth:`SSLSocket.send` failures, and retry after another call to
   :func:`~select.select`.
 
+- Conversely, since the SSL layer has its own framing, a SSL socket may
+  still have data available for reading without :func:`~select.select`
+  being aware of it.  Therefore, you should first call
+  :meth:`SSLSocket.recv` to drain any potentially available data, and then
+  only block on a :func:`~select.select` call if still necessary.
+
   (of course, similar provisions apply when using other primitives such as
-  :func:`~select.poll`)
+  :func:`~select.poll`, or those in the :mod:`selectors` module)
 
 - The SSL handshake itself will be non-blocking: the
   :meth:`SSLSocket.do_handshake` method has to be retried until it returns