Hello, Python 3.7 removes the undocumented internal import `os.errno`. We consider that a an implementation detail, which can be changed *without notice* even in a bugfix release. Projects that depend on it are incorrect and should be fixed. On bpo-33666, there's a debate on whether the removal should be mentioned in release notes, on the grounds that it broke some projects, is used in quire a few tutorials/books/examples, and it's been working since Python 2.5 or so. But here's the thing: the more I think about this, the less I consider `os.errno` as "undocumented". Here's what I consider a reasonable path a programmer might go through: # Where do I find errno values? # Maybe it's in `os`, like all other basic platform bindings?
import os os.err<tab> os.errno os.error( help(os.errno) Help on built-in module errno: ... # Yup, There it is!
Even more serious: # Hmm, this old example on some website tells me to use `os.errno`. # It's the first time I'm hear about that, so I'll be extra careful;
import os os.errno
# Yup, it's there! Let's double-check the docs. help(os.errno) Help on built-in module errno: ... # Yup, looks quite alright! Let's use it!
As you can see, the built-in documentation does not contain *any* warnings against using `os.errno`. You might think the fact that it's called "errno" and not "os.errno" is a red flag, but it's not, really -- "os.path" is (on my system) named "posixpath", yet "os.path" is the name to use. While most people might prefer searching docs.python org to `help()`, editors are getting better and better to presenting introspection and the built-in docs, so more and more people are preferring `pydoc`-ish docs to going online. I don't think we can reasonably expect people who used built-in help as above to go back and check that Python's official docs *do not* contain `os.errno`. Effectively, while `os.errno` is not very *discoverable* using official docs alone, I don't think calling it *undocumented* is fair. So, removing it without notice is not very friendly to our users. Is that reasoning sound? Should our policy on removing internal imports take that into account?