[Python-Dev] Deprecated xmllib module

[Raymond Hettinger]

> > It seems somewhat silly to keep an obsolete, supplanted module that
> > doesn’t full support XML 1.0.
> 
> I mostly agree with Fredrik. What good does removal of xmllib do?


A few thoughts:

* Deprecated modules just get moved to the lib-old directory.  If
someone has ancient code relying on the module, it is a somewhat trivial
maintenance step to add lib-old to their PYTHONPATH.  IOW, I fail to see
the harm.

* For this particular module, xmllib, about six years will have elapsed
between its original deprecation in Py2.0 and us taking it out in a
Py2.5 release.  

* The number one current python complaint is the state of the standard
library:  http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3441931 .
Some of this may just be the fruits of AMK's highly publicized journal
entry; however, I think the concerns about library quality will persist.

* The average quality of the library improves as we take out junk (the
tzparse module for example) and put in high quality modules like
logging, csv, decimal, etc.

* After working through the tutorial, another huge task for aspiring
intermediate Python programmer is to learn about the standard library.
That task is made much difficult by the presence of obsolete,
incomplete, and/or supplanted modules.

For example, the high quality, actively maintained email package
supplants several older, incomplete, or non-actively maintained modules.
The library would be cleaner, more presentable, and easier to use if the
old ones were to fall by the wayside.

* Ideally, the library will develop in a way that doesn't have a
cluttered concept space.  This will help get it back to the point where
you can hold it in your head all at once and still be able to think
about the problem domain.  Keeping cruft impedes that goal.


my two cents,



Raymond