* separated values

[Cliff Wells]

On Tue, 15 Jan 2002 11:22:44 -0800 (PST)
brueckd at tbye.com wrote:

> On 15 Jan 2002, Robin Munn wrote:
> 
> > On Tue, 15 Jan 2002 16:53:09 +0300, Oleg Broytmann <phd at phd.pp.ru>
wrote:
> > >On Tue, Jan 15, 2002 at 01:42:10PM +0000, Magnus Lie Hetland wrote:
> > >> Basically, what I'm wondering is whether it would be possible to add
> > >> such a beast to the standard library. It seems like a very natural
> > >> format to support, doesn't it?
> > >
> > >   I don't think so.
> >
> > I do. I once needed to translate a couple of .csv files to another
> > format, and started out writing my own parser since "it'll be simple,
> > right?" Discovered there are several subtleties that make it not
> > particularly easy, decided someone must have already invented this
> > wheel, and found a csv parser on-line. Not too much time wasted, but if
> > it had been in the standard library, I wouldn't have wasted *any* time
> > at all.
> 
> I totally see how it'd be easier for you if it was in the std library,
but
> where do we stop? I for one have never needed a CSV parser beyond
> simple comma-separated stuff so adding this to the main distribution
would
> never benefit me. I use PIL and Numeric more, so shouldn't we include
them
> instead (licensing issues aside)? A CPAN solution is the only one that'll
> work.

The bottom line is that there is no hard-and-fast rule for determining what
should be included in the standard libs.  Different things will be useful
to some and useless to others.  As far as whether a CPAN solution is "the
only one that'll work"... well, I think it works pretty well the way it is.
If the library maintainers decide that a new module would be useful enough
for a large enough segment of Python developers to be included in the
standard distro, then so be it.  For the rest, there's always the Vaults.

-- 
Cliff Wells
Software Engineer
Logiplex Corporation (www.logiplex.net)
(503) 978-6726 x308
(800) 735-0555 x308