Yesterday I upgraded one of my computer to 2.7.10 and a program working for years failed.
The problem is this:
"""
http=httplib.HTTPConnection("127.0.0.1",8081)
http.request("GET","/XXXXX/%f" %last_t, "",
{"Authorization":"Basic %s" %base64.encodestring("%s:%s" %(a,b))})
"""
base64.encodestring() creates base64 encoding with a final '\n'. This used to work until 2.7.9 but 2.7.10 if failing now with an exception about an "illegal character" in a header.
I know that that code is faulty and I should drop the final '\n' or just use "base64.b64encode()" (my current fix). The point, thought, it that this code used to work in previous 2.7 releases but it is failing under 2.7.10.
This incompatible change will be released in 3.4.4 too.
I agree that new code is better, no argument here. My program was incorrect, sure. But I was under the impression that backwards incompatible code was forbidden in minor releases, except for very critical reasons (like the HTTPS security default backported to 2.7). I think that breaking working code during minor updates is risky and breaks user/programmer expectations.
The change was done in <https://bugs.python.org/issue22928>.
I think the change is the way to go, I don't ask for a revert (since 2.7.10 is already in the wild I want to keep it too in future 3.4.4) but I am interested in knowing the official statement of committers about backwards incompatible changes in minor releases for my own future reference.
Sorry if this email seems confrontational. Not my intention, but my English is getting worse by the day :-). This is an inquiry about policy, not an attack.
Thanks!
-- Jesús Cea Avión _/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ jcea@jcea.es - http://www.jcea.es/ _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ Twitter: @jcea _/_/ _/_/ _/_/_/_/_/ jabber / xmpp:jcea@jabber.org _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ "Things are not so easy" _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ _/_/ "My name is Dump, Core Dump" _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ _/_/ "El amor es poner tu felicidad en la felicidad de otro" - Leibniz