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[Python-ideas] Making the stdlib consistent again

Greg Ewing greg.ewing at canterbury.ac.nz
Tue Jul 26 02:53:36 EDT 2016 
Nick Coghlan wrote:
> The "isn't worth it" mainly comes from the fact that these APIs
> generally *were* compliant with the coding guidelines that existed at
> the time they were first written

Is that true? Did we really actively advise people to use
Java-style APIs in some cases, or was it just that
nobody told them otherwise?

> So if you say
> "let's update them to 2016 conventions" today, by 2026 you'll just
> have the same problem again.

You're assuming that the conventions will change just as
much in the next 10 years as they did in the last 10. I
don't think that's likely -- I would hope we're converging
on a set of conventions that's good enough to endure.

> and look for more modern version independent 3rd party
> facades if you find the mix of API design eras in the standard library
> annoying

It would be sad if Python's motto became "Batteries
included (as long as you're happy with Leclanche cells;
if you want anything more modern you'll have to look
elsewhere)".

-- 
Greg
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