[Python-mode] huge files

François Pinard pinard at iro.umontreal.ca
Wed Feb 15 16:08:22 CET 2012


Andreas Röhler <andreas.roehler at online.de> writes:

> Am 14.02.2012 22:31, schrieb Andrea Crotti:

>> python-mode.el is > 10k lines now, which for me causes two problems:
>> - it's hard to even know the various functionalities
>> - it's hard to manage the file

As I'm favoring a single file, I feel like arguing a bit, not much :-).
In any case, as Barry and Jeff said already, this is Andreas' now.

The first point is a documentation and organization issue.  The
documentation is severely lacking, and it should exist either in some
more substantial README, or a manual.  The size of the Emacs Lisp source
does not much have to do with it.  It could it either be split to stress
the structure, or merely organized into pages, which would have almost
the same effect.

The second point, I do not get.  How is it hard to manage a single file?
It seems to be that many files are harder to manage than one.  On the
other hand, python-mode already holds a few extraneous Emacs Lisp files
taken from elsewhere, so the simplicity is being lost already.
Splitting python-mode in many files might blur the distinction between
what is python-mode proper from what is borrowed stuff; such blurring
have both advantages and disadvantages, but this is another problem.

>> Since it doesn't do any difference in terms of performance and it's
>> much less intimidating to try to grasp, is there a reason to keep all in
>> one big file?

It's easier to share and install.  A bit, not by much, nowadays.
Splitting might be a trigger towards a more formal installation
procedure.  But it would not alleviate the need for some good, or at
least reasonable documentation.  Splitting could also give to some the
feeling that it "replaces" documentation.  So I fear a bit that energies
might be dispersed away from the real thing to do.

François


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