python-peps/pep-0283.txt

PEP: 283
Title: Python 2.3 Release Schedule
Version: $Revision$
Last-Modified: $Date$
Author: Guido van Rossum
Status: Final
Type: Informational
Content-Type: text/x-rst
Created: 27-Feb-2002
Python-Version: 2.3
Post-History: 27-Feb-2002


Abstract
========

This document describes the development and release schedule for
Python 2.3.  The schedule primarily concerns itself with PEP-sized
items.  Small features may be added up to and including the first
beta release.  Bugs may be fixed until the final release.

There will be at least two alpha releases, two beta releases, and
one release candidate.  Alpha and beta releases will be spaced at
least 4 weeks apart (except if an emergency release must be made
to correct a blunder in the previous release; then the blunder
release does not count).  Release candidates will be spaced at
least one week apart (excepting again blunder corrections).

===========  ===========
alpha 1      31 Dec 2002
alpha 2      19 Feb 2003
beta 1       25 Apr 2003
beta 2       29 Jun 2003
candidate 1  18 Jul 2003
candidate 2  24 Jul 2003
final        29 Jul 2003
===========  ===========

Release Manager
===============

Barry Warsaw, Jeremy Hylton, Tim Peters


Completed features for 2.3
==========================

This list is not complete.  See ``Doc/whatsnew/whatsnew23.tex`` in CVS
for more, and of course ``Misc/NEWS`` for the full list.

- Tk 8.4 update.

- The ``bool`` type and its constants, ``True`` and ``False`` (PEP 285).

- ``PyMalloc`` was greatly enhanced and is enabled by default.

- Universal newline support (PEP 278).

- PEP 263 Defining Python Source Code Encodings, Lemburg

  Implemented (at least phase 1, which is all that's planned for
  2.3).

- Extended slice notation for all built-in sequences.  The patch
  by Michael Hudson is now all checked in.

- Speed up list iterations by filling ``tp_iter`` and other tweaks.
  See http://www.python.org/sf/560736; also done for ``xrange`` and
  tuples.

- Timeout sockets.  http://www.python.org/sf/555085

- Stage B0 of the ``int``/``long`` integration (PEP 237).  This means
  issuing a ``FutureWarning`` about situations where ``hex`` or ``oct``
  conversions or left shifts returns a different value for an ``int``
  than for a ``long`` with the same value.  The semantics do *not*
  change in Python 2.3; that will happen in Python 2.4.

- Nuke ``SET_LINENO`` from all code objects (providing a different way
  to set debugger breakpoints).  This can boost ``pystone`` by >5%.
  http://www.python.org/sf/587993, now checked in.  (Unfortunately
  the ``pystone`` boost didn't happen.  What happened?)

- Write a ``pymemcompat.h`` that people can bundle with their
  extensions and then use the 2.3 memory interface with all
  Pythons in the range 1.5.2 to 2.3.  (Michael Hudson checked in
  ``Misc/pymemcompat.h``.)

- Add a new concept, "pending deprecation", with associated
  warning ``PendingDeprecationWarning``.  This warning is normally
  suppressed, but can be enabled by a suitable ``-W`` option.  Only a
  few things use this at this time.

- Warn when an extension type's ``tp_compare`` returns anything except
  -1, 0 or 1.  http://www.python.org/sf/472523

- Warn for assignment to ``None`` (in various forms).

- PEP 218 Adding a Built-In Set Object Type, Wilson

  Alex Martelli contributed a new version of Greg Wilson's
  prototype, and I've reworked that quite a bit.  It's in the
  standard library now as the module ``sets``, although some details
  may still change until the first beta release.  (There are no
  plans to make this a built-in type, for now.)

- PEP 293 Codec error handling callbacks, Dörwald

  Fully implemented.  Error handling in ``unicode.encode`` or
  ``str.decode`` can now be customized.

- PEP 282  A Logging System, Mick

  Vinay Sajip's implementation has been packagized and imported.
  (Documentation and unit tests still pending.)
  http://www.python.org/sf/578494

- A modified MRO (Method Resolution Order) algorithm.  Consensus
  is that we should adopt C3.  Samuele Pedroni has contributed a
  draft implementation in C, see http://www.python.org/sf/619475
  This has now been checked in.

- A new command line option parser.  Greg Ward's Optik package
  (http://optik.sf.net) has been adopted, converted to a single
  module named ``optparse``.  See also
  http://www.python.org/sigs/getopt-sig/

- A standard ``datetime`` type.  This started as a wiki:
  http://www.zope.org/Members/fdrake/DateTimeWiki/FrontPage.  A
  prototype was coded in ``nondist/sandbox/datetime/``.  Tim Peters
  has finished the C implementation and checked it in.

- PEP 273 Import Modules from Zip Archives, Ahlstrom

  Implemented as a part of the PEP 302 implementation work.

- PEP 302  New Import Hooks, JvR

  Implemented (though the 2.3a1 release contained some bugs that
  have been fixed post-release).

- A new pickling protocol. See PEP 307.

- PEP 305 (CSV File API, by Skip Montanaro et al.) is in; this is
  the csv module.

- Raymond Hettinger's ``itertools`` module is in.

- PEP 311 (Simplified GIL Acquisition for Extensions, by Mark
  Hammond) has been included in beta 1.

- Two new ``PyArg_Parse*()`` format codes, 'k' returns an unsigned C
  long int that receives the lower ``LONG_BIT`` bits of the Python
  argument, truncating without range checking. 'K' returns an
  unsigned C long long int that receives the lower ``LONG_LONG_BIT``
  bits, truncating without range checking.  (SF 595026; Thomas
  Heller did this work.)

- A new version of IDLE was imported from the IDLEfork project
  (http://idlefork.sf.net).  The code now lives in the ``idlelib``
  package in the standard library and the ``idle`` script is installed
  by ``setup.py``.


Planned features for 2.3
========================

Too late for anything more to get done here.


Ongoing tasks
=============

The following are ongoing TO-DO items which we should attempt to
work on without hoping for completion by any particular date.

- Documentation: complete the distribution and installation
  manuals.

- Documentation: complete the documentation for new-style
  classes.

- Look over the ``Demos/`` directory and update where required (Andrew
  Kuchling has done a lot of this)

- New tests.

- Fix doc bugs on SF.

- Remove use of deprecated features in the core.

- Document deprecated features appropriately.

- Mark deprecated C APIs with ``Py_DEPRECATED``.

- Deprecate modules which are unmaintained, or perhaps make a new
  category for modules 'Unmaintained'

- In general, lots of cleanup so it is easier to move forward.


Open issues
===========

There are some issues that may need more work and/or thought
before the final release (and preferably before the first beta
release):  No issues remaining.


Features that did not make it into Python 2.3
=============================================

- The import lock could use some redesign.  (SF 683658.)

- Set API issues; is the sets module perfect?

  I expect it's good enough to stop polishing it until we've had
  more widespread user experience.

- A nicer API to open text files, replacing the ugly (in some
  people's eyes) "U" mode flag.  There's a proposal out there to
  have a new built-in type ``textfile(filename, mode, encoding)``.
  (Shouldn't it have a *bufsize* argument too?)

  Ditto.

- New widgets for Tkinter???

  Has anyone gotten the time for this?  *Are* there any new
  widgets in Tk 8.4?  Note that we've got better Tix support
  already (though not on Windows yet).

- Fredrik Lundh's basetime proposal:

  http://effbot.org/ideas/time-type.htm

  I believe this is dead now.

- PEP 304 (Controlling Generation of Bytecode Files by Montanaro)
  seems to have lost steam.

- For a class defined inside another class, the ``__name__`` should be
  ``"outer.inner"``, and pickling should work.  (SF 633930.  I'm no
  longer certain this is easy or even right.)

- reST is going to be used a lot in Zope3.  Maybe it could become
  a standard library module?  (Since reST's author thinks it's too
  unstable, I'm inclined not to do this.)

- Decide on a clearer deprecation policy (especially for modules)
  and act on it.  For a start, see this message from Neal Norwitz:
  http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2002-April/023165.html
  There seems insufficient interest in moving this further in an
  organized fashion, and it's not particularly important.

- Provide alternatives for common uses of the ``types`` module;

  Skip Montanaro has posted a proto-PEP for this idea:
  http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2002-May/024346.html

  There hasn't been any progress on this, AFAICT.

- Use pending deprecation for the ``types`` and ``string`` modules.  This
  requires providing alternatives for the parts that aren't
  covered yet (e.g. ``string.whitespace`` and ``types.TracebackType``).
  It seems we can't get consensus on this.

- Deprecate the ``buffer`` object.

  - http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2002-July/026388.html
  - http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2002-July/026408.html

  It seems that this is never going to be resolved.

- PEP 269 Pgen Module for Python, Riehl

  (Some necessary changes are in; the ``pgen`` module itself needs to
  mature more.)

- Add support for the long-awaited Python catalog.  Kapil
  Thangavelu has a Zope-based implementation that he demoed at
  OSCON 2002.  Now all we need is a place to host it and a person
  to champion it.  (Some changes to distutils to support this are
  in, at least.)

- PEP 266  Optimizing Global Variable/Attribute Access, Montanaro

  PEP 267  Optimized Access to Module Namespaces, Hylton

  PEP 280  Optimizing access to globals, van Rossum

  These are basically three friendly competing proposals.  Jeremy
  has made a little progress with a new compiler, but it's going
  slow and the compiler is only the first step.  Maybe we'll be
  able to refactor the compiler in this release.  I'm tempted to
  say we won't hold our breath.  In the mean time, Oren Tirosh has
  a much simpler idea that may give a serious boost to the
  performance of accessing globals and built-ins, by optimizing
  and inlining the dict access: http://tothink.com/python/fastnames/

- Lazily tracking tuples?

  - http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2002-May/023926.html
  - http://www.python.org/sf/558745

  Not much enthusiasm I believe.

- PEP 286 Enhanced Argument Tuples, von Loewis

  I haven't had the time to review this thoroughly.  It seems a
  deep optimization hack (also makes better correctness guarantees
  though).

- Make 'as' a keyword.  It has been a pseudo-keyword long enough.
  Too much effort to bother.


Copyright
=========

This document has been placed in the public domain.



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