Mailman 3 March 2023 - docs

A suggestion for improving the documentation of chapter 10.9. Data Compression
by Guy Goldner 22 May '24

22 May '24

Hello dear Python gods :) I'm new at Python and was going over the documentation . This useful paragraph : https://docs.python.org/3.7/tutorial/stdlib.html#data-compression provides info for compressing text but IMHO some important additional info is needed, without which I expect nearly all users would get stuck just as I have. Moreover, while looking for a solution I noticed a lot of articles with outdated examples which no longer work - this confused me even more to the point I started suspecting something was amiss on my end... Anyhow, adding this info would do the trick : zlib works only with bytes and in Python 3.x strings are no longer bytes. Example : *>>> zlib.compress('this is a sample string which does not work in zlib because it requires bytes and not unicode')Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>TypeError: a bytes-like object is required, not 'str'>>>* Luckily Python has a very simple solution for this : encode to utf-8, compress, decode back to unicode like so : *>>> text = 'this is a sample string which does not work in zlib because it requires bytes and not unicode with chars like this »שלום '>>> encoded = text.encode()>>> text = 'this is a sample with unicode chars »שלום '>>> encoded = text.encode()>>> compressed = zlib.compress(encoded)>>> decompressed = zlib.decompress(compressed)>>> decoded = decompressed.decode()>>> len(text),len(encoded),len(compressed) #notice that compression of short strings can be larger than the original(42, 47, 54)>>> print(text,'\n',encoded,'\n',compressed)this is a sample with unicode chars »שלום b'this is a sample with unicode chars \xc2\xbb\xd7\xa9\xd7\x9c\xd7\x95\xd7\x9d ' b'x\x9c+\xc9\xc8,V\x00\xa2D\x85\xe2\xc4\xdc\x82\x9cT\x85\xf2\xcc\x92\x0c\x85\xd2\xbc\xcc\xe4\xfc\x94T\x85\xe4\x8c\xc4\xa2b\x85C\xbb\xaf\xaf\xbc>\xe7\xfa\xd4\xebs\x15\x00\xb2K\x14|'>>> text == decodedTrue* Thank you ! You are doing a great thing ! B.R., Guy Goldner

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bug reports for the documentation (mainly the tutorial)
by Stephan Stiller 30 Oct '23

30 Oct '23

Dear list, I recently read through the entire Python tutorial and FAQ (v3.11.2) and took notes on things that I believe to be errata. Here is my list: 1. https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/controlflow.html I think it would be better if there were a pastable space after "144 233 377 610 987 1597" (and in some other places in the tutorial). My guess is that the present formatting has to do with the way these pages are generated. 2. https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#dict.get I think "get(key[, default=None])" would be better than "change get(key[, default]). 3. https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#mapping-types-dict It seems that "sorted(d)" is missing from the documentation, at least on this page. The output (sorted list of all keys) is not predictable for a beginner, so it might be better to be explicit. 4. https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/modules.html About the instruction for loading "fibo" ("Now enter the Python interpreter and import this module with the following command:"): Many beginners will be using IDLE. If on Windows, one needs to import the file like this: import sys sys.path.append(r'C:\path_to_directory_with_fibo') import fibo Adding a remark like this will help the reader. 5. https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/inputoutput.html The '{:-9} YES votes {:2.2%}'.format(yes_votes, percentage) example will slow a careful first-time reader down. I suggest explaining the two expressions in curly braces briefly on the side, in one sentence each. 6. https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/inputoutput.html#old-string-formatting I would replace the second sentence by something like the following For the expression "format % values", "%" conversion specifications in "format" are replaced with zero or more elements of "values". or something similar adapted from here: https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#old-string-formatting 7. https://docs.python.org/3/library/functions.html#open I strongly suggest replacing "buffering=- 1" by "buffering= -1". I suspect this might be a systematic bug generated by a formatter. Similarly, here https://docs.python.org/3/library/stdtypes.html#str.split I would replace "str.split(sep=None, maxsplit=- 1)" by "str.split(sep=None, maxsplit= -1)". In both cases, deleting the space entirely is an alternative option. 8. https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/errors.html#exceptions If I understand correctly, I believe it will be clearer if "and execution stops with a message as shown above" is shortened to simply "and execution stops". 9. https://docs.python.org/3/faq/extending.html#how-do-i-extract-c-values-from… "PyListSize()" should probably read "PyList_Size()". General comments: I believe that a HOWTO on "object-oriented programming" best practices in Python would be useful. Perhaps there is one, but I couldn't find it. Best regards, Stephan Stiller

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https://docs.python.org/3/library/timeit.html
by Goldberg, Arthur P 30 Oct '23

30 Oct '23

Hello In this section This is a convenience function that calls timeit()<https://docs.python.org/3/library/timeit.html#timeit.Timer.timeit> repeatedly so that the total time >= 0.2 second, returning the eventual (number of loops, time taken for that number of loops). It calls timeit()<https://docs.python.org/3/library/timeit.html#timeit.Timer.timeit> with increasing numbers from the sequence 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, … until the time taken is at least 0.2 second. s/second/seconds/ two times. “seconds” is properly plural elsewhere on the page. Thanks A -- Arthur Goldberg, PhD Mount Sinai Data Warehouse<https://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/msdw/> Scientific Computing and Data<https://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/minervalab/scientific-computing-and-data> Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology Mount Sinai School of Medicine Arthur.Goldberg(a)mssm.edu<mailto:Arthur.Goldberg@mssm.edu> 646 526 5020 Zoom<https://mssm.zoom.us/my/arthur.goldberg?pwd=LzByMGJOZC9wM3A2aHV6OU94eUtSQT09>

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Documentation?
by Mark Reese 15 Apr '23

15 Apr '23

Hello, I was consulting the documentation section of the python site (for example https://docs.python.org/release/3.11.1/download.html) and when attempting to download the documentation for any file type of any version, it turns out none are available. Where can I get the documentation for the versions I seek. If you do not intend to host documentation on the site, there's no point in having such a section in the first place; it's important you remove it as it misleads visitors. Regards, - Mark

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(no subject)
by Zhao Babycat 23 Mar '23

23 Mar '23

Hello~ I found all the download link on Download �� Python 3.11.1 documentation<https://docs.python.org/release/3.11.1/download.html> web page will show 404��. Do the documents cannot be download now? If it is possible, would you please help me? Thank you very much! Windows �� `��<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> ��

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Documentation by Version Not Downloadable
by Julian Fortune 23 Mar '23

23 Mar '23

Hey wonderful python docs maintainers, I noticed that from the Python Documentation by Version page <https://www.python.org/doc/versions/> if I navigate to a specific version of documentation—even a stable version—, e.g., `3.10.9`, when I go to *Download these documents* all the download links result in a 404 error. Example: https://docs.python.org/ftp/python/doc/3.10.9/python-3.10.9-docs-pdf-letter… *404 — Archive Not Found* > The archive you're trying to download has not been built yet. > Please try again later. Happy holidays and New Year; Thanks! Julian

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Error in time_ns?
by Joe Kryzak 22 Mar '23

22 Mar '23

Shouldn’t it return a double? https://docs.python.org/3/library/time.html#time.time_ns time — Time access and conversions docs.python.org

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Literal Text not in quotes
by Damian Duckeck 22 Mar '23

22 Mar '23

I‘ve already send the email yesterday, but formatted only as html. The Text (z, #, 0, .) is not in quotes, as strings normally are. https://docs.python.org/3/library/string.html#format-specification-mini-lan… Image to explain better: https://imgur.com/lMEnoR2

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Typo in https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/modules.html
by Goldberg, Arthur P 14 Mar '23

14 Mar '23

In “is prevents directories with a common name, such as string, unintentionally hiding valid modules that occur later on the module search path” s/ unintentionally/ from unintentionally/ Thanks A -- Arthur Goldberg, PhD Mount Sinai Data Warehouse<https://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/msdw/> Scientific Computing and Data<https://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/minervalab/scientific-computing-and-data> Associate Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology Mount Sinai School of Medicine Arthur.Goldberg(a)mssm.edu<mailto:Arthur.Goldberg@mssm.edu> 646 526 5020 Zoom<https://mssm.zoom.us/my/arthur.goldberg?pwd=LzByMGJOZC9wM3A2aHV6OU94eUtSQT09>

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bug in https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/errors.html
by Peter Lazar 10 Mar '23

10 Mar '23

At or around here: https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/errors.html#:~:text=Handlers%20only%20ha… I would have "corresponding except clause" instead of "corresponding try clause" Regards, -- p

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