[Python-Dev] PEP 3144 ipaddr module (was Re: PEP 408 -- Standard library preview package) (original) (raw)

Stephen J. Turnbull stephen at xemacs.org
Tue Jan 31 01:51:09 CET 2012

Nick Coghlan writes:

1. Draft ReStructuredText documentation for inclusion in the stdlib docs

(still needed)

No wonder people (not directly involved in development of the module) think that the proponents don't care! What good is a battery if the odds are even that you will hook it up with wrong polarity and fry your expensive components?

I don't mean to criticize the proponents and mentors of this PEP; I recall the ipaddr vs. netaddr discussions, and clearly the API needed and got a lot of changes. That's definitely a chilling factor for writing a second document that largely covers the same material as the PEP. On the other hand, people who are not battery manufacturers have every right to use stdlib-ready documentation as a litmus test for readiness (and even if you think otherwise, you can't stop them).

While you probably won't get a lot of comments from those people if you publish such docs, if you don't publish docs, you will get none.

I suggest emphasizing (in the 408bis PEP that Nick suggested) the importance of documentation in convincing the "just users" audience (which is the one that stdlib is really aimed at) of the value and readiness of a module proposed for stdlib integration.

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