2.2.x backports of 2.3.x new features?

[Laura Creighton]

Python in a Tie is interested in finding out what, if any features
from 2.3 should be ported back to 2.2.  Can you please cc me on
any discussion, or better yet cross post to snake-farm at lists.lysator.liu.se?
My life is hellishly busy and I don't want to miss any of this.

Apologies for being a pain,

Thank you,
Laura Creighton

> Looking through the What's New in 2.3 document, there's a number of 
> modules which seem like they could be readily back-ported to 2.2.x (the 
> "stable target" for Python).  Possibly a 2.3 backports package (with the 
> idea that there could be a 2.4, and possibly even a 3.0 backports 
> package when those versions come out).  The modules could break code 
> that does imports of the same name, but if you're installing a feature 
> backports package you can expect new features to have names ;) . 
>  Specifically:
> 
>     * sets module -- sounds as though it's a simple Python-language
>       module that should be compatible with 2.2
>     * textwrap -- sounds like a stand-alone Python module
>     * logging -- stand-alone Python package
>     * optparse -- stand-alone Python module
>     * heapq -- sounds like a stand-alone C module
> 
> Then there are module enhancements which seem like they could be 
> back-ported fairly readily, though they would have potential 
> namespace-clashes in certain cases.  Somewhat more dangerous because 
> they alter existing/known modules:
> 
>     * math.degrees( rads ) and math.radians( degrees )
>     * random.sample
>     * getopt.gnu_getopt
>     * time.strptime -- (reliability/bug-fix), people likely willing to
>       eat cost on changing code which uses the current bugginess
> 
> And then there are a few built-ins that sound like they'd be useful if 
> you've got a 2.3 module that happens to use the features and want to 
> back-port it to 2.2.x.  You could either install them into builtins or 
> allow modules which use them to import them from a backport-utility module:
> 
>     * enumerate built-in function -- just a generator/function
>     * bool type -- basically just a minor sub-class of int
> 
> The first three modules (sets, textwrap and logging) are, to me, the 
> bulk of the interesting features in 2.3 (I like extended slicing 
> notation, but I really only find myself needing to use it with Numeric 
> arrays).
> 
> Is there already a 2.2.3 release Czar?  Can they comment on what's on 
> the back-port table already (probably just the bug-fix patches), and 
> what would need to be in an add-on back-porting package (probably 
> everything above)?
> 
> !*@$ muttered the White Rabbit, it's him again :) ,
> Mike
> 
> Cameron Laird wrote:
> ...
> 
> >    Andrew Kuchling describes "What's new in 2.3".
> >	http://www.python.org/dev/doc/devel/whatsnew/whatsnew23.html
> >  
> >
> ...
> 
> 
> 
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