[ python-Bugs-919099 ] Update docs on Reload()

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Bugs item #919099, was opened at 2004-03-18 16:06
Message generated for change (Settings changed) made by montanaro
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Category: Documentation
Group: None
Status: Open
Resolution: None
Priority: 5
Submitted By: David MacQuigg (macquigg)
>Assigned to: Skip Montanaro (montanaro)
Summary: Update docs on Reload()

Initial Comment:
The current description of the reload() function in the 
Library Reference Manual, Release 2.3.3, Section 2.1 
provides lots of detail, but not enough basic 
explanation.  As a result, there is lots of confusion on 
the use of reload, in the mailing lists, and even in texts 
on Python.  The attached PDF file shows the text from 
the manual, with my suggested edits highlighted in 
yellow.

The main change is to add a much more detailed 
description of what happens when a module is reloaded.  
Reloads were always a mystery to me, until I started 
thinking about what is happening to the namespaces.

A minor edit:  I replaced "re-parse and re-initialize" 
with "re-compile and reload", since I think many users 
won't know exactly what the former terms mean in this 
context.  I'm not very familiar with the documentation, 
so I don't know if the former terms might be preferred, 
so as to be consistent with other documents.

See 
http://ece.arizona.edu/~edatools/Python/Reload.htm for 
an introductory description of reload, with examples and 
exercises and a few paragraphs on why reload can never 
work the way many users expect it to.

-- Dave


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