[Python-Dev] Curious comment in some old libraries

[Eric S. Raymond]

Pursuant to a conversation Guido and I had in New York, I have gone through 
and converted the Python library code to use string methods wherever possible,
removing a whole boatload of "import string" statements in the process.

(This is one of those times when it's a really, *really* good thing that
most modules have an attached self-test.  I supplied a couple of these
where they were lacking, and improved several of the existing test jigs.)

One side-effect of the change is that nothing in the library uses splitfields
or joinfields anymore.  But in the process I found a curious contradiction:

stringold.py:# NB: split(s) is NOT the same as splitfields(s, ' ')!
stringold.py:    (split and splitfields are synonymous)
stringold.py:splitfields = split
string.py:# NB: split(s) is NOT the same as splitfields(s, ' ')!
string.py:    (split and splitfields are synonymous)
string.py:splitfields = split

It certainly looks to me as though the "NB" comment is out of date.
Is there some subtle and wicked reason it has not been removed?
-- 
		<a href="http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/">Eric S. Raymond</a>

This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were
no religion in it.
	-- John Adams, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson.