[Python-ideas] Documenting Python warts on Stack Overflow

[Antoine Pitrou]

On Mon, 31 Dec 2012 04:00:12 +0400
Oleg Broytman <phd at phdru.name> wrote:
> Hello and happy New Year!
> 
> On Sun, Dec 30, 2012 at 11:20:34PM +0100, Victor Stinner <victor.stinner at gmail.com> wrote:
> > If I understood correctly, you would like to list some specific issues
> > like print() not flushing immediatly stdout if you ask to not write a
> > newline (print "a", in Python 2 or print("a", end=" ") in Python 3).
> > If I understood correctly, and if you want to improve Python, you
> > should help the documentation project. Or if you can build a website
> > listing such issues *and listing solutions* like calling
> > sys.stdout.flush() or using print(flush=True) (Python 3.3+) for the
> > print issue.
> > 
> > A list of such issue without solution doesn't help anyone.
> 
>    I cannot say for Anatoly but for me warts are:
> 
> -- things that don't exist where they should (but the core team object
>    or they are hard to implement or something);
> -- things that exist where they shouldn't; they are hard to fix because
>    removing them would break backward compatibility;
> -- things that are implemented in strange, inconsistent ways.
> 
>    A few examples:
> [snip]

The problem is you are listing examples which *in your opinion* are
issues with Python. Other people would have different ideas of what is
an issue and what is not. This can't be the right methodology if we
want to write a piece of Python docs. Only things which are
*well-known* annoyances can qualify.

I also disagree that missing features are "warts"; they are just
missing features, not something unpleasant that's difficult to get rid
of.

Regards

Antoine.