[docs] datetime.strftime nits

Georg Brandl georg at python.org
Sat Oct 12 21:25:15 CEST 2013


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Am 12.10.2013 21:18, schrieb Skip Montanaro:
> On Sat, Oct 12, 2013 at 11:23 AM, Georg Brandl <georg at python.org> wrote:
>> our policy has always been to only document the format codes available
>> in POSIX; %s does not seem to be POSIX-compliant.  (There is a sentence
>> to the effect that there may be additional non-portable codes
>> available.)
>> 
>> We could of course change this, but it would require a survey of the most
>> used systems and a bit of effort.

[s/POSIX/ANSI C/g]

> Georg,
> 
> Thanks for the reply. If you are only going to document some of the format
> codes, I think it makes sense to document those which you can't find
> elsewhere. If someone was to read the documentation, they wouldn't learn
> about %s. Leaving it undocumented makes propagation of this knowledge only
> possible by word-of-mouth or examination of somebody's code. That also
> tends to foster a bit of a "high priest" perspective. You're in on the
> secret or you're not.

Well, as I said, this is not because the other codes are secret, it is
because they are not portable.  Documenting them must necessarily either
spread (F)UD, or meticulously list the supporting platforms.  If someone
is willing to do the latter, it will not be rejected.

cheers,
Georg
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