[Python-Dev] PEP 287: reStructuredText Standard Docstring Format (original) (raw)

Guido van Rossum guido@python.org
Wed, 03 Apr 2002 20:01:53 -0500

Why does the community need a new structured text design? What is wrong with existing markup methodologies? The PEP didn't answer these with any cogent examples, IMHO.

Maybe that's because it's obvious to anyone who has hung out on doc-sig long enough. Structured text is really a great idea for certain situations; reST is a much better implementation of the idea than any versions I've seen before. E.g. the ST code in Zope stinks (this is not a secret).

The only rationale that I saw was existing use: the people that already make use of it find it natural, and everyone else has to learn it.

Maybe David needs to write up the rationale better. But I can assure you there is one.

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)