Re: [Python-Dev] Conflicts [was Re: Keyword meanings [was: Accept just PEP-0426]]

On Sun, Dec 9, 2012 at 1:11 PM, Steven D'Aprano wrote:

On 09/12/12 12:32, Chris Angelico wrote:

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On Sun, Dec 9, 2012 at 12:15 PM, Steven D'Aprano wrote:

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Assuming that two software packages Spam and Ham install into directories Spam and Ham, how can merely having them installed side-by-side lead to a conflict?

I can see how running or importing Spam and Ham together might lead to problems. And I can see that if package Spam wants to install into directory Ham, that would be bad. But who does that?

If two packages Spam and Ham both define a module Jam, then the one that gets loaded will depend on the search path. That would be one form of conflict.

import Spam.Jam

import Ham.Jam

What am I missing?

Why would a software package called "Spam" install a top-level module called "Jam" rather than "Spam"? Isn't the whole point of Python packages to solve this namespace problem?

That would require/demand that the software package MUST define a module with its own name, and MUST NOT define any other top-level modules, and also that package names MUST be unique. (RFC 2119 keywords.) That would work, as long as those restrictions are acceptable. ChrisA