[Python-Dev] Another 1.6 wish

[Guido van Rossum]

> This is really a pointer to the fact that some or all of the win32api
> should be moved into the core - registry access is the thing people
> most want, but there are plenty of other useful things that people
> reguarly use...
> 
> Guido objects to the coding style, but hopefully that wont be a big
> issue.  IMO, the coding style isnt "bad" - it is just more an "MS"
> flavour than a "Python" flavour - presumably people reading the code
> will have some experience with Windows, so it wont look completely
> foreign to them.  The good thing about taking it "as-is" is that it
> has been fairly well bashed on over a few years, so is really quite
> stable.  The final "coding style" issue is that there are no "doc
> strings" - all documentation is embedded in C comments, and extracted
> using a tool called "autoduck" (similar to "autodoc").  However, Im
> sure we can arrange something there, too.

That's a good summary of the status quo.  I would appreciate it if
win32all could become part of the core.  However the coding style
issues need to be addressed (I also believe that it needs to be
compiled in C++ mode).  One concern that Mark doesn't mention is that
there are some safety issues -- you can abuse some of the calls to
cause segfaults, whether intentional or by mistake, and that's not a
good thing.

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)