On 2022-04-29 18:02, Guido van Rossum wrote:
On Fri, Apr 29, 2022 at 10:15 AM Petr Viktorin <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
On 29. 04. 22 16:32, Victor Stinner wrote:
> Ok, let me start with the serious business: API name.
>
> I'm not comfortable with "semi-stable". Python already has a "limited
> API" and a "stable ABI". Just by its name, it's unclear what
> "semi-stable" means.
>
> Honestly, I would be more comfortable with the name: "unstable API".
> It would be clear that the API *can* change often. People who want to
> know exactly the backward compatibility warranties can dig into the
> API documentation to learn more about it.
>
> "Unstable API" is also the name the Guido proposed for
PyCode_New() last year:
>
> * Proposal: declare "unstable APIs"
>
https://mail.python.org/archives/list/[email protected]/thread/JM6SQ2YNMDAKXYD5O54QWMVR2X7QOXVL/
<https://mail.python.org/archives/list/[email protected]/thread/JM6SQ2YNMDAKXYD5O54QWMVR2X7QOXVL/>
> * Making code object APIs unstable
>
https://mail.python.org/archives/list/[email protected]/thread/ZWTBR5ESYR26BUIVMXOKPFRLGGYDJSFC/
<https://mail.python.org/archives/list/[email protected]/thread/ZWTBR5ESYR26BUIVMXOKPFRLGGYDJSFC/>
>
> Victor
Nick Coghlan argued against that term:
> "unstable" is the wrong term. We already have an unstable API
tier: the
> internal API, which can change even in maintenance releases. The
value of
> the new tier is that it is "semi stable": stable in maintenance
releases,
> unstable in feature releases.
—
https://mail.python.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/CTKKTHUV5R2A2RRN5DM32UQFNC42DDGJ/
<https://mail.python.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/CTKKTHUV5R2A2RRN5DM32UQFNC42DDGJ/>
But I also like “unstable” better than “semi-stable”. Splitting the
internals into “private”/“internal” and “unstable” seems reasonable.
I think picking "semi-stable" would be giving in to the OCD nerd in all
of us. :-) While perhaps technically less precise, "unstable" is the
catchy name with the right association. (And yes, we should keep it
stable within bugfix releases, but the name doesn't need to reflect that
detail.) The "internal API" isn't an API at all (except for CPython core
developers and contributors). The "unstable API" would definitely be an
*API* for users outside the core.
So let's please go with "unstable".
I was going to suggest "metastable". Too late? :-)
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