Frank Wierzbicki wrote: > On Mon, Sep 14, 2009 at 1:06 PM, Michael Foord <mich...@voidspace.org.uk> > wrote: >> No-one argues that the standard library should evolve quickly but there do >> seem to be those arguing that it should *never* evolve. > I'll add my voice against the folks who want the stdlib to never > evolve. Java's standard library provides a nice cautionary example.
I don't think anyone has voiced such an opinion. There are different views on what "evolve" should mean and when to apply what actions, though. Replacing prefectly fine working code just for the fun of it, does not count much as argument for evolving the stdlib. There have to be really good reasons to drop an existing tested and proven solution in favor of a new implementation that only adds one or two tricks to the set of already available features, but at the same time breaks the published API. The bar is a lot lower for modifying existing modules, e.g. to enhance or add functionality: http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0387/ BTW and just because this line gets misquoted so often: the Zen says "There should be one -- and preferably only one -- obvious way to do it." ... People tend to forget the "obvious" in that line. There is often more than one way to look at a problem, so it's not against the Zen to have more than one implementation to tackle a certain problem in the stdlib. A good example of this is the XML package of the stdlib: the modules all work on XML, but each in its own separate way, specifically designed with a certain approach in mind. The urllibs are another example: they both allow accessing URLs in various ways, but the way they are adapted to fit a particular need is completely different. -- Marc-Andre Lemburg eGenix.com Professional Python Services directly from the Source (#1, Sep 14 2009) >>> Python/Zope Consulting and Support ... http://www.egenix.com/ >>> mxODBC.Zope.Database.Adapter ... http://zope.egenix.com/ >>> mxODBC, mxDateTime, mxTextTools ... http://python.egenix.com/ ________________________________________________________________________ ::: Try our new mxODBC.Connect Python Database Interface for free ! :::: eGenix.com Software, Skills and Services GmbH Pastor-Loeh-Str.48 D-40764 Langenfeld, Germany. CEO Dipl.-Math. Marc-Andre Lemburg Registered at Amtsgericht Duesseldorf: HRB 46611 http://www.egenix.com/company/contact/ _______________________________________________ stdlib-sig mailing list stdlib-sig@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/stdlib-sig
