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On Mon, 2011-08-29 at 21:14 +1000, Nick Coghlan wrote:<BR>
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The essential idea here is to be able to add a feature, but flag the
API as potentially unstable for an entire release cycle before
promising to maintain the API in perpetuity. Early adopters would get
*most* of python-dev's usual guarantees (which most PyPI packages
don't offer), while more conservative types can use more stable
alternatives.
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We'd still need to be careful not to throw any old rubbish in there,
but as a phased introduction for things like "from __experimental__
import ipaddr" (PEP 3144) and "from __experimental__ import re" (re
replacement with regex, assuming someone steps up to write the PEP and
eventual drop-in replacement looks feasible), the idea definitely has
potential.
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The semantics of the new marker package would be to indicate that
stuff is a little undercooked, but we've decided that it won't get
enough exposure through PyPI (either through being too small to
overcome NIH syndrome or else too closely coupled to a specific
version of the interpreter). That's a completely different meaning, so
we shouldn't reuse the same word.
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>From the descriptions in this thread, it sounds like __experimental__ items will be pretty far on the way to inclusion. And maybe the only thing experimental about them is a few fine details that might be changed before release. (but probably won't be.) <BR>
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How often do you think things in __experimental__ will be aborted or canceled? <BR>
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Another way to think about "experimental" items is to use it in the way that science does. ie... An experiment designed to discover information, or test a very specific idea or theory. In that context, depending on the results of the experiment, a particular feature my be changed to take the results of the experiment into account. <BR>
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That's probably a bit too formal and restrictive, and it will be difficult to do in a very controlled way. The python community, and Python itself, tends to thrive in a more relaxed and informal atmosphere. But it may not hurt to have some guide lines on how to do a python "__experimental__" experiment so that it doesn't end up being a series of trial and error attempts at something half baked.<BR>
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Which do you think fits better with what you have in mind?<BR>
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__experimental__<BR>
__pre-view__<BR>
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Cheers,<BR>
Ron<BR>
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