%a format

[Alex Martelli]

John Lenton <john at grulic.org.ar> wrote:
   ...
> > Note that Python uses sprintf() to do its dirty work, so any patch would
> > have to implement %a itself to remain compatible with C89.
> 
> is remaining compatible with C89 a requirement?

Yes, until every C compiler on Earth implements C99 (in the same sense
that every compiler at long last IS more or less implementing C89 just
in these last few years) Python will surely not accept patches that make
it impossible to compile Python with C89.  Patches that let Python
compile anyway, with more functionality offered only on C99, are a less
clear-cut case, but I think there would be quite some bias against them,
since using the extra functionality would make a program unportable to
non-C99 Python builds; such platform-restricted functionality may be
acceptable in the Python standard library, but the core language is
generally considered a different matter.


Alex