[Python-Dev] Beta version of the new devguide (original) (raw)

Mark Summerfield list at qtrac.plus.com
Sun Jan 23 08:56:21 CET 2011

Hi Brett,

On Sat, 22 Jan 2011 17:08:00 -0800 Brett Cannon <brett at python.org> wrote:

http://docs.python.org/devguide/

Personally, I found the first paragraph of "Contributing" a bit off-putting.

How about replacing:

People who wish to contribute to Python must read the following
documents in the order provided. You can stop where you feel
comfortable and begin contributing immediately without reading and
understanding these documents all at once, but please do not skip
around within the documentation as everything is written assuming
preceding documentation has been read.

With something like:

The Python core development team always welcomes new contributors,
so we are very glad of your interest! Please read the following
documents---in the order shown---to ensure that you understand how
Python's development process works. This will ensure that your
contributions are considered purely on their merit and don't get
rejected due to missing or incorrectly performing a step in the
process.

In "Getting Set Up" it describes how to build a pydebug build. Is that really necessary for those who plan only to contribute by working on pure Python code?

I had a quick skim over the rest and got the feeling that no clear distinction is made between C and Python work. Personally, I feel that more of a distinction should be made since not everyone will be confident or interested in C. (And maybe more distinction should be made between working on CPython and the standard library?)

Overall I think this document is extremely welcome and I am very glad you have done it. I'm sure that once it starts to get known it will help add to the pool of people contributing to Python as well as helping to keep the processes clear:-)

-- Mark Summerfield, Qtrac Ltd, www.qtrac.eu C++, Python, Qt, PyQt - training and consultancy "Advanced Qt Programming" - ISBN 0321635906 http://www.qtrac.eu/aqpbook.html

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