PROPOSAL: Packages in Python lib

[Paul Prescod]

I would like to suggest a package organization for the standard modules.
The package directories should all be in sys.path so that older modules
would continue to work. Import syntax could become more consistent: 

from sys import types
from sys import path

This would make the shift between using the standard libraries and using
packages easier. Consistency!

Other benefits: responsibility for packages would be easier. Migration of
packages into and out of the Python standard library would be easier.
Platform unportable and implementation unportable code could be more
cleanly segmented: ("compiler" is implementation unportable, "win" is
platform unportable).

Over time, (or in the move to Python 2) these packages would migrate to
real, cohesive packages with consistent internal interfaces (i.e. among
formats and protocols) and some consistent interfaces at the package level
(e.g. __all__)

Main benefit: It would be easier to find things in the standard library
and to document the library!

Downsides: 

 * slightly more typing on import.

Here is a rough example of what I am thinking of:

sys:
	except
	traceback
	types
	
string:
	string
	re	

compiler:
	token.
	tokenize
	compileall


database:
	*dbm
	*SQL

formats:
	xdrlib
	xmllib
	rfc822
	zlib
	...

Math:
	whrandom
	time
	cmath

Data Structures:
	UserDict
	UserList
	array

Unix:

SGI:
	al
	...

SunOS:
	...

Windows:
	...

Reflect:
	code
	commands


Protocols:
	urllib
	urlparse
	gopherlib
	htmllib
	httplib
	telnetlib

Server:
	BaseHTTPServer
	cgi

Misc:
	Bastion
	fileinput
	
Thread:
	thread
	threading

OS:
	tempfile
	cmd

Serial:
	pickle
	cpickle
	...

Crypt:
	...
Old:
	regex


-- 
 Paul Prescod  - ISOGEN Consulting Engineer speaking for only himself
 http://itrc.uwaterloo.ca/~papresco

"Microsoft spokesman Ian Hatton admits that the Linux system would have
performed better had it been tuned."
"Future press releases on the issue will clearly state that the research
was sponsored by Microsoft."
  http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/enterprise/1999/9904221410.asp