[Python-Dev] PEP 411: Provisional packages in the Python standard library (original) (raw)

Nick Coghlan ncoghlan at gmail.com
Sat Feb 11 07:32:56 CET 2012

On Sat, Feb 11, 2012 at 1:39 PM, Eric Snow <ericsnowcurrently at gmail.com> wrote:

Is there more to it than having a simple provisional attribute on the module and/or a list at sys.provisionalmodules?

Yes. As soon as we touch functional code, it because something to be tested and the process overhead on our end is noticeably higher.

However, I'd be fine with requiring that a short form for the notice appear at the start of the module docstring. For example:

"The API of this module is currently provisional. Refer to the documentation for details."

This would then be seen by pydoc and help(), as well as being amenable to programmatic inspection.

Also, with a documented provisional status, I think keeping things provisional for as long as it takes us to make up our minds they're right is fine.

Cheers, Nick.

-- Nick Coghlan | ncoghlan at gmail.com | Brisbane, Australia