[Doc-SIG] suggestions for a PEP

[Tony J Ibbs (Tibs)]

Ken Manheimer wrote:
> I may be misguided here, but my impression is that it's not a
> goal to have more PEPs.  Rather, the idea is to allow for multiple
> PEPs that convey competing viewpoints when competing viewpoints
> exist.  If you  diverge just
> in marginal particulars, you can present the particulars as
> alternatives,

oh, I give up - it's going to have to stay formatted funnily. I hate
Outlook <fx:spit>

> with explanation about their relative merits.  In general, if it's
> suitable for you and tibbs to do a joint PEP, and you'd be
> comfy with it,
> it sounds like the PEP might be the stronger for it.

I agree in principle, but maybe not in particular.

The STpy PEP is going to have to be rather long if it is going to give
even an informal account of the rules. Not to mention trying to
forestall *some* of the inevitable arguments about why those rules won't
work (since it isn't always obvious how sub-tle (pronounced "sub","tl")
ST actually is in its workings.

And I think STminus is a different sort of thing (or two things) - it's
an attempt to codify a true formal definition of an ST variant (a
first), it's an attempt to produce a common subset (which is a *very*
useful idea, both for pedagogy and also for interoperability), and (ok,
three) it's an attempt to produce an alternative implementation (but
this is the least of the three, so far as I'm concerned - it just
happens to be necessary to do the work of the first two).

So I think STminus deserves a PEP *on those terms* - assuming PEPs are
also meant to be placeholders for "something interesting is happening
which could have large effects on the future".

Whereas the STpy PEP is just a traditional "I intend to ask people to
work like this, and here is an example implementation that does it".

Does that make sense?

Tibs

--
Tony J Ibbs (Tibs)      http://www.tibsnjoan.co.uk/
Give a pedant an inch and they'll take 25.4mm
(once they've established you're talking a post-1959 inch, of course)
My views! Mine! Mine! (Unless Laser-Scan ask nicely to borrow them.)