On Wed, Mar 16, 2011 at 3:00 PM, Raymond Hettinger <raymond.hettin...@gmail.com> wrote: .. > The version number in the decimal module refers to the version of the > spec that is being complied with. I would like that version number > to remain in the module.
I mentioned this in my first post. If the version number of the spec is important, shouldn't it be called something else? Note that __version__ value appears in pydoc as the version the module, and it is confusing to have it refer to something else. This fact is only mentioned in a comment inside the module and cannot be found either in module docstrings or reST documentation. Note that in a similar situation, another module, unicodedata defines unidata_version variable which is properly documented: http://docs.python.org/library/unicodedata.html?highlight=unicodedata#unicodedata.unidata_version I think this is a better approach. (It would be even better if it was called "ucd_version" or "unicode_version", but "unidata_version" is good enough.) I also question the utility of maintaining IBM draft version in the decimal module. Note that the current version 1.70 is described as follows: Changes in Version 1.70 (25 Mar 2009) The document is now formatted using OpenOffice (generated from GML), for improved PDF files with bookmarks, hot links, etc. There are no technical changes. See http://speleotrove.com/decimal/dachange.html On the other hand, spot checking the changes from other versions I immediately found that at least one change introduced in the previous version, 1.68, was not implemented: "The normalize operation has been renamed reduce to avoid confusion with normal numbers." It may actually be more useful to refer to the appropriate version of IEEE 754 standard. Or if no strict compliance with any particular standard or version of specification is promised, not record spec version in the module at all. Given that decimal.__version__ has not changed since it was introduced, I doubt there is a lot of code out there that relies on it. _______________________________________________ Python-Dev mailing list Python-Dev@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com
