[Python-Dev] Breaking undocumented API

[Nick Coghlan]

On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 12:25 AM, Michael Foord
<fuzzyman at voidspace.org.uk> wrote:
> We're *also* discussing codifying the naming conventions (or using __all__)
> within the standard library, so it isn't just about deprecations (which is
> why I think PEP 8 rather than PEP 5). This is so that in the future if a
> name looks public users can have more confidence that it actually is...

I deliberately glossed over that, since my stance on the naming
conventions is "don't change them" (i.e. PEP 8 already says that a
leading underscore is an internal use indicator, and I think that's
how we should guide the clarification of our deprecation policy - just
carving out an exception for imported modules).

My original question related to dealing with the grey area in the
deprecation policy (i.e. wanting to remove an API that was
undocumented, but had a public name) and I'm happy that the existing
style guide does answer my question (even though the implications
aren't necessarily obvious).

Cheers,
Nick.

-- 
Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at gmail.com   |   Brisbane, Australia