[Python-Dev] trace.py and the obscurity of Tools/scripts/ (was: Unittest list)

[Zooko]

 Skip Montanaro <skip@pobox.com> wrote:
>
> My trace.py stuff is actually in the distribution these days at
> Tools/scripts/trace.py.  It's languished since I first ripped off profile.py
> to create it.

Actually I rewrote some of it before 2.2.  Your mention of it has prompted me 
to go ahead and submit a patch that has been lurking around in my sandbox for 
a couple of months, patch 542562 [1].

It is almost unusuably slow.  I'm not sure if I'm responsible for that.  There 
is a faster alternative by Gareth Rees [2], but it has other drawbacks and 
anyway I'm not already familiar with its guts so I don't feel like hacking on 
it.  The final word on that thread was Skip's suggestion of a whole new 
tech: [3].


   The Obscurity of Tools/scripts/

Since even python-dev'ers find ancient copies of trace.py on ftp sites before 
they find the one in the Tools/scripts/ directory, and since the debian 
package of Python 2.2 comes without a Tools/scripts/ directory at all, 
I conclude that the Tools/scripts/ directory it isn't doing its job very 
well.  I suggest it either be killed or fixed.  I'm not sure how to do the 
latter -- link to it from the doc pages?

Regards,

Zooko

[1] http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=542562&group_id=5470&atid=305470
[2] http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2002-January/079730.html
[3] http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2002-January/079763.html

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