[Python-Dev] Python 2.5 and ast-branch

[Brett Cannon]

To answer Nick's email here, I didn't respond to that initial email
because it seemed specifically directed at Guido and not me.

On 10/5/05, Guido van Rossum <guido at python.org> wrote:
> On 10/5/05, Nick Coghlan <ncoghlan at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Anyway, the question is: What do we want to do with ast-branch? Finish
> > bringing it up to Python 2.4 equivalence, make it the HEAD, and only then
> > implement the approved PEP's (308, 342, 343) that affect the compiler? Or
> > implement the approved PEP's on the HEAD, and move the goalposts for
> > ast-branch to include those features as well?
> >
> > I believe the latter is the safe option in terms of making sure 2.5 is a solid
> > release, but doing it that way suggests to me that the ast compiler would need
> > to be held over until 2.6, which would be somewhat unfortunate.
> >
> > Given that I don't particularly like that answer, I'd love for someone to
> > convince me I'm wrong ;)
>
> Given the total lack of response, I have a different suggestion. Let's
> *abandon* the AST-branch. We're fooling ourselves believing that we
> can ever switch to that branch, no matter how theoretically better it
> is.
>

Since the original people who have done the majority of the work
(Jeremy, Tim, Neal, Nick, logistix, and myself) have fallen so far
behind this probably is not a bad decision.  Obviously I would like to
see the work pan out, but since I personally just have not found the
time to shuttle the branch the rest of the way I really am in no
position to say much in terms of objecting to its demise.

Maybe I can come up with a new design and get my dissertation out of it.  =)

-Brett