先上Python/C API 参考手册中对两个函数的解释:
socket.send(bytes[, flags])
Send data to the socket. The socket must be connected to a remote socket. The optional flags argument has the same meaning as for recv() above. Returns the number of bytes sent. Applications are responsible for checking that all data has been sent; if only some of the data was transmitted, the application needs to attempt delivery of the remaining data. For further information on this topic, consult the Socket Programming HOWTO.
Changed in version 3.5: If the system call is interrupted and the signal handler does not raise an exception, the method now retries the system call instead of raising an InterruptedError exception (see PEP 475 for the rationale).
socket.sendall(bytes[, flags])
Send data to the socket. The socket must be connected to a remote socket. The optional flags argument has the same meaning as for recv() above. Unlike send(), this method continues to send data from bytes until either all data has been sent or an error occurs. None is returned on success. On error, an exception is raised, and there is no way to determine how much data, if any, was successfully sent.
Changed in version 3.5: The socket timeout is no more reset each time data is sent successfully. The socket timeout is now the maximum total duration to send all data.
Changed in version 3.5: If the system call is interrupted and the signal handler does not raise an exception, the method now retries the system call instead of raising an InterruptedError exception (see PEP 475 for the rationale).
就一句话:send()可能不发送完就返回了,sendall要嘛全部发送完,要嘛报错。