1.2beta news
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Guido van Rossum
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Misc/NEWS
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Misc/NEWS
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===================================
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==> Release 1.1.1 (10 Nov 1994) <==
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==> Release 1.2 <==
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===================================
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This is a pure bugfix release again. See the ChangeLog file for details.
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One exception: a few new features were added to tkinter.
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- Most known bugs have been fixed. For example the pow(2,2,3L) bug on
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Linux has been fixed. Also the re-entrancy problems with __del__ have
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been fixed.
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- Most known memory leaks have been fixed.
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=================================
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==> Release 1.1 (11 Oct 1994) <==
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=================================
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- Phase 2 of the Great Renaming has been executed. The header files
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now use the new names (PyObject instead of object, etc.). The linker
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also sees the new names. Most source files still use the old names,
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by virtue of the rename2.h header file. If you include Python.h, you
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only see the new names. Dynamically linked modules have to be
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recompiled.
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This release adds several new features, improved configuration and
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portability, and fixes more bugs than I can list here (including some
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memory leaks).
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- The hooks for implementing "safe-python" (better called "restricted
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execution") are in place. Specifically, the import statement is
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implemented by calling the built-in function __import__, and the
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built-in names used in a particular scope are taken from the
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dictionary __builtins__ in that scope's global dictionary. See also
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the new module rexec.py.
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The source compiles and runs out of the box on more platforms than
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ever -- including Windows NT. Makefiles or projects for a variety of
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non-UNIX platforms are provided.
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- The import statement now supports the syntax "import a.b.c" and
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"from a.b.c import name". No meaningful implementation exists, but
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one can be prototyped by replacing the built-in __import__ function.
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APOLOGY: some new features are badly documented or not at all. I had
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the choice -- postpone the new release indefinitely, or release it
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now, with working code but some undocumented areas. The problem with
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postponing the release is that people continue to suffer from existing
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bugs, and send me patches based on the previous release -- which I
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can't apply directly because my own source has changed. Also, some
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new modules (like signal) have been ready for release for quite some
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time, and people are anxiously waiting for them. In the case of
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signal, the interface is simple enough to figure out without
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documentation (if you're anxious enough :-). In this case it was not
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simple to release the module on its own, since it relies on many small
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patches elsewhere in the source.
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- All machinery used by the import statement (or the built-in
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__import__ function) is now exposed through the new built-in module
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"imp". All dynamic loading machinery is moved to the new file
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importdl.c.
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For most new Python modules, the source code contains comments that
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explain how to use them. Documentation for the Tk interface, written
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by Matt Conway, is available as tkinter-doc.tar.gz from the Python
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home and mirror ftp sites (see Misc/FAQ for ftp addresses). For the
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new operator overloading facilities, have a look at Demo/classes:
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Complex.py and Rat.py show how to implement a numeric type without and
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with __coerce__ method. Also have a look at the end of the Tutorial
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document (Doc/tut.tex). If you're still confused: use the newsgroup
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or mailing list.
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- Persistent storage is supported through the use of the module
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"pickle" and "shelve" (implemented in Python). Read the .py files for
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more info. There's also a "copy" module implementing deepcopy and
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normal (shallow) copy operations.
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- Documentation strings for many objects types are accessible through
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the __doc__ attribute. Modules, classes and functions support special
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syntax to initialize the __doc__ attribute: if the first statement
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consists of just a string literal, that string literal becomes the
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value of the __doc__ attribute. The default __doc__ attribute is
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None. Documentation strings are also supported for built-in
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functions, types and modules; however this feature hasn't been widely
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used yet. See the 'new' module for an example.
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New language features:
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- The __coerce__ and __cmp__ methods for user-defined classes once
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again work as expected. As an example, there's a new standard class
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Complex in the library.
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- More flexible operator overloading for user-defined classes
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(INCOMPATIBLE WITH PREVIOUS VERSIONS!) See end of tutorial.
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- The functions posix.popen() and posix.fdopen() now have an optional
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third argument to specify the buffer size, and default their second
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(mode) argument to 'r' -- in analogy to the builtin open() function.
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- Classes can define methods named __getattr__, __setattr__ and
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__delattr__ to trap attribute accesses. See end of tutorial.
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- Improved support for the Apple Macintosh, e.g. interfaces to (a few)
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resource mananger functions, get/set file type and creator, gestalt,
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sound manager, speech manager, MacTCP, comm toolbox, and the think C
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console library. (Sorry, no Mac binary yet. Will try to produce one
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shortly, plus instructions on how to compile with THINK C 6.0.)
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- Classes can define method __call__ so instances can be called
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directly. See end of tutorial.
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New support facilities:
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- The Makefiles (for the base interpreter as well as for extensions)
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now support creating dynamically loadable modules if the platform
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supports shared libraries.
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- Passing the interpreter a .pyc file as script argument will execute
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the code in that file. (On the Mac such files can be double-clicked!)
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- New Freeze script, to create independently distributable "binaries"
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of Python programs -- look in Demo/freeze
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- Improved h2py script (in Demo/scripts) follows #includes and
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supports macros with one argument
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- New module compileall generates .pyc files for all modules in a
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directory (tree) without also executing them
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- Threads should work on more platforms
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New built-in modules:
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- tkinter (support for Tcl's Tk widget set) is now part of the base
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distribution
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- signal allows catching or ignoring UNIX signals (unfortunately still
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undocumented -- any taker?)
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- termios provides portable access to POSIX tty settings
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- curses provides an interface to the System V curses library
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- syslog provides an interface to the (BSD?) syslog daemon
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- 'new' provides interfaces to create new built-in object types
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(e.g. modules and functions)
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- sybase provides an interface to SYBASE database
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New/obsolete built-in methods:
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- callable(x) tests whether x can be called
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- sockets now have a setblocking() method
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- sockets no longer have an allowbroadcast() method
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- socket methods send() and sendto() return byte count
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New standard library modules:
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- types.py defines standard names for built-in types, e.g. StringType
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- urlparse.py parses URLs according to the latest Internet draft
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- uu.py does uuencode/uudecode (not the fastest in the world, but
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quicker than installing uuencode on a non-UNIX machine :-)
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- New, faster and more powerful profile module.py
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- mhlib.py provides interface to MH folders and messages
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New facilities for extension writers (unfortunately still
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undocumented):
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- newgetargs() supports optional arguments and improved error messages
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- O!, O& O? formats for getargs allow more versatile type checking of
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non-standard types
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- can register pending asynchronous callback, to be called the next
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time the Python VM begins a new instruction (Py_AddPendingCall)
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- can register cleanup routines to be called when Python exits
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(Py_AtExit)
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- makesetup script understands C++ files in Setup file (use file.C
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or file.cc)
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- Make variable OPT is passed on to sub-Makefiles
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- An init<module>() routine may signal an error by not entering
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the module in the module table and raising an exception instead
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- For long module names, instead of foobarbletchmodule.c you can
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use foobarbletch.c
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- getintvalue() and getfloatvalue() try to convert any object
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instead of requiring an "intobject" or "floatobject"
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- All the [new]getargs() formats that retrieve an integer value
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will now also work if a float is passed
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- C function listtuple() converts list to tuple, fast
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- You should now call sigcheck() instead of intrcheck();
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sigcheck() also sets an exception when it returns nonzero
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- Used autoconf 2.0 to generate the configure script. Adapted
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configure.in to use the new features in autoconf 2.0.
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--Guido van Rossum, CWI, Amsterdam <Guido.van.Rossum@cwi.nl>
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