[Python-Dev] strptime recapped

[Skip Montanaro]

I am getting more and more frustrated with the way things are going here
lately.  At this point I would be more than happy to pass off anything
that's assigned to me to other people and just unsubscribe from python-dev.
I feel like there are enormous contradictions in the way different changes
to Python are being addressed.  If you want to take over any of these bugs
or patches, feel free:

    411881 Use of "except:" in modules
    569574 plain text enhancement for cgitb
    542562 clean up trace.py
    474274 Pure Python strptime() (PEP 42)
    541694 whichdb unittest


    >> I would prefer a time.py module be created to hold Brett's strptime
    >> function.  On import, the last thing it would try doing is to import
    >> * from _time, which would obliterate Brett's Python version if the
    >> platform supports strptime().

    Guido> That's only a good idea if Brett's Python code has absolutely no
    Guido> features beyond the C version.

I don't understand what you mean.  Guido's probably gone by now.  Perhaps
someone can channel him.  I am clearly missing something obvious, but I
don't see any support for the argument that having the existing time module
call out to a separate Python module makes a lot of sense.  (Other than the
fact that it comes from the BDFL, of course.)

If we put Brett's changes into time.py (I'd argue that initially all we want
is strptime(), but can live with the other stuff assuming it's tested -
after all, it has to go somewhere), then

    from _time import *

at the bottom, the only thing to be eliminated would be his version of
strptime(), and only if the platform libc didn't support it.  The
Gregorian/Julian date stuff would remain.  If you don't want them exposed in
time, just prefix them with underscores and don't add them to time.all.

The original patch

    http://python.org/sf/474274

was just about adding strptime() to the time module.  All PEP 42 asked for
was

    Add a portable implementation of time.strptime() that works in clearly
    defined ways on all platforms.

All the other stuff is secondary in my mind to making time.strptime()
universally available and should be dealt with separately.

If performance isn't a big issue (I doubt it will be most of the time), I
can see dropping the C version of time.strptime altogether.  I still think
the best way to add new stuff which is written in Python to the time module
is to have time.py be the front-end module and have it import other stuff
from a C-based _time module.

Skip