[pypy-svn] r23767 - pypy/dist/pypy/doc/discussion

[stuart at codespeak.net]

Author: stuart
Date: Tue Feb 28 18:57:43 2006
New Revision: 23767

Added:
   pypy/dist/pypy/doc/discussion/removing-stable-compiler.txt
Log:
Some thoughts on getting rid of the stable compiler which is used only in testing.

Added: pypy/dist/pypy/doc/discussion/removing-stable-compiler.txt
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+++ pypy/dist/pypy/doc/discussion/removing-stable-compiler.txt	Tue Feb 28 18:57:43 2006
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+February 28th, 2006
+
+While implementing conditional expressions from 2.5 we had to change
+the stable compiler in order to keep tests from breaking.  While using
+stable compiler as a baseline made sense when the ast compiler was
+new, it is less and less true as new grammar changes are introduced.
+
+Options include
+
+1. Freezing the stable compiler at grammar 2.4.
+
+2. Capture AST output from the stable compiler and use that explicitly
+in current tests instead of regenerating them every time, primarily
+because it allows us to change the grammar without changing the stable
+compiler.
+
+
+In either case, AST production tests for new grammar changes could be
+written manually, which is less effort than fixing the stable
+compiler (which itself isn't really tested anyway).
+
+Discussion by Arre, Anders L., Stuart Williams