[Python-Dev] new features for 2.3?

[David Goodger]

Guido van Rossum wrote:
> First of all, reST is going to be used a lot in Zope3.

Cool!  Is there a website or a mailing list thread containing the
master plan?

> Maybe it could become a standard library module?

That would be great.  But could it be a bit premature?

* There's at least one major parser element that has yet to be
  implemented: interpreted text.

* Should the entire Docutils codebase be added to the standard library
  at the same time?  Or only the parser core?

  - There are many dependencies: much of the top-level Docutils code
    supports the reStructuredText parser, such as the nodes,
    statemachine, roman, urischemes, and utils modules.  Of course,
    the parser-related support code could be isolated.

  - There's a pervasive runtime-settings mechanism that may need an
    overhaul before long.  It uses Optik/optparse and ConfigParser,
    but in a simplistic way that's showing some rough edges.

  - Docutils is incomplete.  I'm making progress on a Python Source
    Reader component, but only slowly.  There's no support for
    splitting output into multiple files yet.  The "To Do" list is
    long and growing: <http://docutils.sf.net/spec/notes.html#to-do>.

* Zope integration (or other major use) will probably uncover flaws
  and omissions in the Docutils design.  I welcome these as
  opportunities for improvement.

* I have been designing and implementing Docutils in an evolutionary,
  XP-inspired way (with some exceptions ;), and I feel that the
  evolution isn't over.  Although stdlib integration would undoubtedly
  make Docutils/reST much more visible and accessible, I'm concerned
  that it would fix the API and make rip-out-the-guts changes
  difficult.  Ideally I'd like to be able to complete and perfect
  Docutils before submitting it for stdlib integration, but who knows
  how long that will take.

Maybe I'm just being too protective of "my baby".  Perhaps it's time
for it to face the realities of the big bad world.

-- 
David Goodger  <goodger@python.org>  Open-source projects:
  - Python Docutils: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/
    (includes reStructuredText: http://docutils.sf.net/rst.html)
  - The Go Tools Project: http://gotools.sourceforge.net/