[Python-Dev] xturtle.py

[python at rcn.com]

[Collin Winter]
>> While I have no opinion on Gregor's app, and while I fully 
agree that
>> new language features and stdlib modules should generally 
stay out of
>> bug-fix point releases, xturtle doesn't seem to rise to that 
level
>> (and hence, those restrictions).

[Martin]
> It's a stdlib module, even if no other stdlib modules depend 
on it;
> try "import turtle".
>
> In the specific case, the problem with adding it to 2.5 is that 
xturtle
> is a huge rewrite, so ideally, the code should be reviewed 
before being
> added. Given that this is a lot of code, nobody will have the 
time to
> perform a serious review. It will be hard enough to find 
somebody to
> review it for 2.6 - often, changes of this size take several 
years to
> review (primarily because it is so specialized that only few 
people 
> even consider reviewing it).

As a compromise. we could tack Gregor Lingl's module under 
the Tools directory. This makes the tool more readily available 
for student use and allows it a more liberal zone to evolve than 
if it were in the standard library.

One other thought -- at PyCon, I talked with a group of 
educators.  While they needed some minor tweaks to the Turtle 
module, there were no requests for an extensive rewrite or a 
fatter API.  The name of the game was to have a single module 
with a minimal toolset supporting a few simple programs, just 
rich enough to inspire, but small enough to fit into tiny slots in 
the curriculum (one sixth grade class gets is allocated three 55 
minute sessions to learn programming).


Raymond