[Python-Dev] Policy for making changes to the AST

[Nick Coghlan]

On Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 12:02 PM, Guido van Rossum <guido at python.org> wrote:
>> Perhaps we should add a warning to the ast module docs similar to the
>> one we have for the dis module, and use it to explicitly remind people
>> to check ast.__version__ before proceeding with AST manipulation?
>
> Sure, but do we have any indication that the warnings for dis make a difference?

I know it makes *me* feel better when I commit anything that messes
with the bytecode. I don't know how much it really matters to end
users - bytecode hackery has been frowned upon for so long, the
warning is probably somewhat redundant.

Still, if we do articulate a clearer policy on the topic, it should be
officially documented somewhere, and the AST module docs are probably
the most discoverable of the available options.

Cheers,
Nick.

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