[Python-Dev] Remove METH_OLDARGS?

[Neal Norwitz]

On 5/29/06, Thomas Wouters <thomas at python.org> wrote:
> On 5/29/06, Fredrik Lundh <fredrik at pythonware.com> wrote:
> >
> > this is a clear case of unnecessary meddling.  removing it won't remove
> > much code (a whopping 11 lines is dedicated to this), nor give any speed
> > ups whatsoever; all you're doing is generating extra work and support
> > issues for a bunch of third-party developers.  trust me, we have better
> > things to do with our time.
> >
> > -1 on meddling with this before 3.0.
>
> -1 from me, too, for the same reason. It would be nice if the use of
> PyArg_Parse could generate a (C) compile-time warning, but since it can't, I
> think a runtime warning for this minor case is just overkill. (The C
> compile-time warning would be useful in other cases, too... hmm, perhaps we
> can do some post-processing of .o files, looking for deprecated symbols left
> undefined...)

How can users find the implicit use of METH_OLDARGS in code like this:

 static struct PyMethodDef gestalt_methods[] = {
       {"gestalt", gestalt_gestalt},
       {NULL, NULL} /* Sentinel */
 };

 static PyMethodDef SwiMethods[]= {
 { "swi", swi_swi,0},
  { NULL, NULL}
};

The first one was taken straight from one of Georg's checkins, the
second one was modified.
How many people knew we were still using METH_OLDARGS in these places?
 I know this can be done with some simple scripts, but that won't
catch all cases.  And many people won't run such a script, much less
write one.

OTOH, perhaps a deprecation warning on PyArgs_Parse() is sufficient?
What about that?  It doesn't address other cases where OLDARGS are
used without PyArgs_Parse though.

n