[Python-Dev] Library development

[Andrew Kuchling]

On Wed, Aug 22, 2001 at 11:44:36AM -0700, David Ascher wrote:
>which would automatically translate 95% of Perl5 code to Perl6:  "If
>we're smart enough to write Perl5, we can do this".  I think it glosses

<snicker> "We let our code base deteroriate into an incomprehensible
mess of code, and damn it, we can do it again!"

>libraries as distinct from the core.  In Pythonia, there is too much
>emphasis among the elite (us =) on adding features to the core as
>opposed to library modules, IMO.  Related is the fact that much
>'cutting-edge' work in Perl is written in Perl, while most of the
>cutting edge stuff in Pythonia is done in C.  Some of that relates to

*Yes*.  That's mostly why I've been drifting away from python-dev,
too; the core is becoming more and more dull, the new features are
more and more esoteric, and the more interesting action is in
Python-based applications and libraries.  As a bonus, if I work on a
standalone package, I don't need to worry if a change is going to
screw up the X thousands of Python users; only the much smaller pool
of users of the package is at risk, and it's easier to decide to break
things or provide backwards compatibility.

>new keywords, for example.  Still, there is room for exploration and
>prototyping there which we don't have such easy access to.

Tools/compiler lets you try out language modifications, though, so
it's equally possible to do that with Python (witness PTL).  We just
don't do that very much, that's all.

--amk