[Import-SIG] PEP 382 update? and implementation feedback

[Eric Snow]

Any feedback on PJE's proposal [1] regarding PEP 382?  I have some
free time to work on a reference implementation and want to make sure
I am targeting an up-to-date spec.

My first goal is to help get a proof-of-concept implementation out
there for the PEP, for 3.3, regardless of the ultimate implementation.
 However, my end goal is to leverage that effort into a backported
implementation for 2.x.  How far back should I go with that?  I was
thinking 2.4 [2].

The two approaches I've considered to meet these goals are a heavy
import hook and changes to importlib.  For what I have in mind, both
would require backporting the full importlib (for my end goal);
currently only a simple port of import_module is backported and
released on PyPI.

The import hook approach would not be helpful for 3.3 except as a
proof-of-concept.  However, the importlib approach could also work as
the 3.3 implementation if Brett realizes his intentions for
importlib.__import__ [3].

Thoughts?

-eric


[1] http://mail.python.org/pipermail/import-sig/2011-June/000208.html
[2] the version depends partly on use cases, like google app engine
(2.5) and the various distros (no idea).  I'm personally stuck on 2.4
at work for the next while, hence my choice.  :)
[3] http://bugs.python.org/issue2377