[Python-Dev] PEP 414

[Terry Reedy]

On 2/27/2012 10:44 AM, Armin Ronacher wrote:

> On 2/27/12 1:55 AM, Terry Reedy wrote:
>> I presume such a hook would simply remove 'u' prefixes and would
>> run *much* faster than 2to3. If such a hook is satisfactory for
>> 3.2, why would it not be satisfactory for 3.3?

> Agile development and unittests.

Which I am all for. So the issue is not 3.3 versus 3.1/2, but 
development versus installation. I somehow did not get that reading the 
PEP but it seems a crucial point in its favor.

> An installation hook means that you need to install the package
> before running the tests.  Which is fine for CI but horrible during
> development.  "python3 run-tests.py" beats "make venv; install
> library; run testsuite" anytime in terms of development speed.

That I can appreciate. It makes programming more fun. I presume you are 
saying that you would run the 'Python 3' tests quickly with 3.3 in your 
normal development cycle. Then, if you want your library to also run 
under 3.1/2, only occasionally (daily?) check that they also run under a 
3.1/2 installation. That *does* make sense to me.

-- 
Terry Jan Reedy