[Python-Dev] conceptual clarity (original) (raw)

David Harrison dave.l.harrison at gmail.com
Sat Sep 19 09:59:34 CEST 2009

2009/9/18 Peter Moody <peter at hda3.com>:

On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 6:17 PM, Andrew McNamara <andrewm at object-craft.com.au> wrote:

off to patch the pep and implement some of the non controversial changes.

It might be a good idea to add some use-cases to the PEP. There are several use-cases in the PEP already. The problem is, for every use-case where one can show that the existing implementation is confusing, I can come up with a use-case showing where the existing implementation makes more sense than anything proposed. Cheers, /peter

For any given use-case there is bound to be an opposing one, but the goal is to satisfy the most common or relevant use-cases that we all experience - can't please all the people all the time etc.

I think that alot of the confusion and disagreements surrounding the API are due to the absence of use-cases in the PEP - we can all probably agree an IP address module has intrinsic merit, but how we expect to use it may vary significantly. As a result the discussion seems to be driven by the example implementation, instead of the by the use-cases that make the module worthwhile being added - I would normally think it would be the other way round. Without a clear set of expectations and use-cases, it would also be hard to propose an alternate implementation.

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