Abstract

This PEP sets guidelines for Python 3000 development. Ideally, we first agree on the process, and start discussing features only after the process has been decided and specified. In practice, we’ll be discussing features and process simultaneously; often the debate about a particular feature will prompt a process discussion.

Naming

Python 3000, Python 3.0 and Py3K are all names for the same thing. The project is called Python 3000, or abbreviated to Py3k. The actual Python release will be referred to as Python 3.0, and that’s what “python3.0 -V” will print; the actual file names will use the same naming convention we use for Python 2.x. I don’t want to pick a new name for the executable or change the suffix for Python source files.

PEP Numbering

Python 3000 PEPs are numbered starting at PEP 3000. PEPs 3000-3099 are meta-PEPs – these can be either process or informational PEPs. PEPs 3100-3999 are feature PEPs. PEP 3000 itself (this PEP) is special; it is the meta-PEP for Python 3000 meta-PEPs (IOW it describe the process to define processes). PEP 3100 is also special; it’s a laundry list of features that were selected for (hopeful) inclusion in Python 3000 before we started the Python 3000 process for real. PEP 3099, finally, is a list of features that will not change.

Timeline

See PEP 361, which contains the release schedule for Python 2.6 and 3.0. These versions will be released in lockstep.

Note: standard library development is expected to ramp up after 3.0a1 is released.

I expect that there will be parallel Python 2.x and 3.x releases for some time; the Python 2.x releases will continue for a longer time than the traditional 2.x.y bugfix releases. Typically, we stop releasing bugfix versions for 2.x once version 2.(x+1) has been released. But I expect there to be at least one or two new 2.x releases even after 3.0 (final) has been released, probably well into 3.1 or 3.2. This will to some extent depend on community demand for continued 2.x support, acceptance and stability of 3.0, and volunteer stamina.

I expect that Python 3.1 and 3.2 will be released much sooner after 3.0 than has been customary for the 2.x series. The 3.x release pattern will stabilize once the community is happy with 3.x.

Compatibility and Transition

Python 3.0 will break backwards compatibility with Python 2.x.

There is no requirement that Python 2.6 code will run unmodified on Python 3.0. Not even a subset. (Of course there will be a tiny subset, but it will be missing major functionality.)

Python 2.6 will support forward compatibility in the following two ways:

• It will support a “Py3k warnings mode” which will warn dynamically (i.e. at runtime) about features that will stop working in Python 3.0, e.g. assuming that range() returns a list.
• It will contain backported versions of many Py3k features, either enabled through __future__ statements or simply by allowing old and new syntax to be used side-by-side (if the new syntax would be a syntax error in 2.x).

Instead, and complementary to the forward compatibility features in 2.6, there will be a separate source code conversion tool [1]. This tool can do a context-free source-to-source translation. For example, it can translate apply(f, args) into f(*args). However, the tool cannot do data flow analysis or type inferencing, so it simply assumes that apply in this example refers to the old built-in function.

The recommended development model for a project that needs to support Python 2.6 and 3.0 simultaneously is as follows:

0. You should have excellent unit tests with close to full coverage.
1. Port your project to Python 2.6.
2. Turn on the Py3k warnings mode.
3. Test and edit until no warnings remain.
4. Use the 2to3 tool to convert this source code to 3.0 syntax. Do not manually edit the output!
5. Test the converted source code under 3.0.
6. If problems are found, make corrections to the 2.6 version of the source code and go back to step 3.
7. When it’s time to release, release separate 2.6 and 3.0 tarballs (or whatever archive form you use for releases).

It is recommended not to edit the 3.0 source code until you are ready to reduce 2.6 support to pure maintenance (i.e. the moment when you would normally move the 2.6 code to a maintenance branch anyway).

PS. We need a meta-PEP to describe the transitional issues in detail.

Implementation Language

Python 3000 will be implemented in C, and the implementation will be derived as an evolution of the Python 2 code base. This reflects my views (which I share with Joel Spolsky [2]) on the dangers of complete rewrites. Since Python 3000 as a language is a relatively mild improvement on Python 2, we can gain a lot by not attempting to reimplement the language from scratch. I am not against parallel from-scratch implementation efforts, but my own efforts will be directed at the language and implementation that I know best.

Meta-Contributions

Suggestions for additional text for this PEP are gracefully accepted by the author. Draft meta-PEPs for the topics above and additional topics are even more welcome!

References

Copyright

This document has been placed in the public domain.