[Python-Dev] PEP 372 -- Adding an ordered directory to collections ready for pronouncement

[Nick Coghlan]

Tennessee Leeuwenburg wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> First a comment on-thread:
>   I can't wait to get an ordered dictionary in the stdlib! The
> discussion regarding suggestions for the name appears to be ongoing.
> What about the name 'orderdict' instead of 'ordereddict'?. It doesn't
> contain the double-d, is slightly shorter, and I think a little more
> typo-friendly. Just my 2c, please feel free to ignore. OrderDict would
> of course be the alternative-casing version.

The naming discussion is largely shooting the breeze at this point - the
OrderedDict naming follows PEP 8 and has a decent history of use in this
context, and I don't believe the objections and alternatives are
compelling enough to get anyone to write the code necessary to change
it. For such a recent patch the "status quo wins by default" argument
isn't as strong as it can sometimes be, but it still carries some weight.

Someone might surprise me and come forward with a patch to change the
name, but I really doubt it at this point.

> Secondly, regarding this list:
> I would appreciate any pointers regarding what is appreciated on this
> list and what is not. Hopefully, over time I will be able to make some
> form of useful, concrete code contributions in the form of patches or
> documentation, but I do realise it will take a lot of hands-on learning
> first. Trying to grok the discussions on this list seems like a big part
> of that.

I'd say you're off to a good start - wanting to learn and understand the
existing culture rather than demanding that the current list members
adapt to *your* style is a great first step :)

As for the culture itself... 'respect' is the main word that comes to my
mind:
- respect for other people's time in trying to post messages that are
concise and to the point
- respect for other people's points of view in trying to resolve design
disagreements
- respect for other people's abilities in assuming that errors are
inadvertent mistakes or due to a small misunderstanding rather than a
result of sheer incompetence
- respect for Python's users in ensuring a variety of perspectives are
taken into account when considering changes

Also, you may have looked at this already, but if not, the developer
page has some useful pointers:
http://www.python.org/dev/
http://www.python.org/dev/culture/

Hope that helps!

Cheers,
Nick.

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