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[Python-Dev] Moving Python 3.5 on Windows to a new compiler

Nick Coghlan ncoghlan at gmail.com
Sat Jun 7 06:58:18 CEST 2014 
On 7 June 2014 14:47, Donald Stufft <donald at stufft.io> wrote:
> On Jun 7, 2014, at 12:41 AM, Nick Coghlan <ncoghlan at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Words like "just", or "simple", or "easy" really have no place being
>> applied to a task where the time required to fully execute it with *no
>> significant problems* is still measured in years.
>
> How much of that time exists because there were actual significant
> changes from 2.6 to 2.7 and how much of it would not need to exist
> if 2.8 was literally 2.7.Z with a new compiler on Windows. IOW is it
> the *version* number that causes the slow upgrade, or is it the fact
> that there are enough changes that it can’t be safely applied
> automatically.

It's the version number change itself. Python 2.7 was covered by the
language moratorium, so it consists almost entirely of standard
library changes, and the porting notes are minimal:
https://docs.python.org/2/whatsnew/2.7.html#porting-to-python-2-7

We didn't even switch compilers on Windows (both 2.6 and 2.7 use VS 2008).

I can't think of a better demonstration than the slow pace of the
Python 2.7 rollout that the challenges with doing a new minor release
of Python really aren't technical ones at the language level - they're
technical and administrative challenges in the way the language
version number interacts with the broader Python ecosystem, especially
the various redistribution channels.

Cheers,
Nick.

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