[Python-Dev] ssize_t branch (Was: release plan for 2.5 ?)

[Guido van Rossum]

On 2/12/06, "Martin v. Löwis" <martin at v.loewis.de> wrote:
> Neal Norwitz wrote:
> > I'm tempted to say we should merge now.  I know the branch works on
> > 64-bit boxes.  I can test on a 32-bit box if Martin hasn't already.
> > There will be a lot of churn fixing problems, but maybe we can get
> > more people involved.
>
> The ssize_t branch has now all the API I want it to have. I just
> posted the PEP to comp.lang.python, maybe people have additional
> things they consider absolutely necessary.
>
> There are two aspects left, and both can be done after the merge:
> - a lot of modules still need adjustments, to really support
>   64-bit collections. This shouldn't cause any API changes, AFAICT.
>
> - the printing of Py_ssize_t values should be supported. I think
>   Tim proposed to provide the 'z' formatter across platforms.
>   This is a new API, but it's a pure extension, so it can be
>   done in the trunk.

Great news. I'm looking forward to getting this over with!

> I would like to avoid changing APIs after the merge to the trunk
> has happened; I remember Guido saying (a few years ago) that this
> change must be a single large change, rather many small incremental
> changes. I agree, and I hope I have covered everything that needs
> to be covered.

Let me qualify that a bit -- I'd be okay with one honking big change
followed by some minor adjustments. I'd say that, since you've already
done so much in the branch, we're quickly approaching the point where
the extra testing we get from merging soon out-benefits the problems
some folks may experience due to the branch not being perfect yet.

--
--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)