[Python-Dev] Beta version of the new devguide

[Mark Summerfield]

Hi Brett,

On Sat, 22 Jan 2011 17:08:00 -0800
Brett Cannon <brett at python.org> wrote:
> http://docs.python.org/devguide/

Personally, I found the first paragraph of "Contributing" a bit
off-putting.

How about replacing:

    People who wish to contribute to Python must read the following
    documents in the order provided. You can stop where you feel
    comfortable and begin contributing immediately without reading and
    understanding these documents all at once, but please do not skip
    around within the documentation as everything is written assuming
    preceding documentation has been read.

With something like:

    The Python core development team always welcomes new contributors,
    so we are very glad of your interest! Please read the following
    documents---in the order shown---to ensure that you understand how
    Python's development process works. This will ensure that your
    contributions are considered purely on their merit and don't get
    rejected due to missing or incorrectly performing a step in the
    process.

In "Getting Set Up" it describes how to build a pydebug build. Is that
really necessary for those who plan only to contribute by working on
pure Python code?

I had a quick skim over the rest and got the feeling that no clear
distinction is made between C and Python work. Personally, I feel that
more of a distinction should be made since not everyone will be
confident or interested in C. (And maybe more distinction should be made
between working on CPython and the standard library?)

Overall I think this document is *extremely welcome* and I am very glad
you have done it. I'm sure that once it starts to get known it will help
add to the pool of people contributing to Python as well as helping to
keep the processes clear:-)

-- 
Mark Summerfield, Qtrac Ltd, www.qtrac.eu
    C++, Python, Qt, PyQt - training and consultancy
        "Advanced Qt Programming" - ISBN 0321635906
            http://www.qtrac.eu/aqpbook.html