61 lines
2.3 KiB
ReStructuredText
61 lines
2.3 KiB
ReStructuredText
:mod:`__future__` --- Future statement definitions
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==================================================
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.. module:: __future__
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:synopsis: Future statement definitions
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:mod:`__future__` is a real module, and serves three purposes:
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* To avoid confusing existing tools that analyze import statements and expect to
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find the modules they're importing.
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* To ensure that future_statements run under releases prior to 2.1 at least
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yield runtime exceptions (the import of :mod:`__future__` will fail, because
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there was no module of that name prior to 2.1).
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* To document when incompatible changes were introduced, and when they will be
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--- or were --- made mandatory. This is a form of executable documentation, and
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can be inspected programmatically via importing :mod:`__future__` and examining
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its contents.
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Each statement in :file:`__future__.py` is of the form::
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FeatureName = _Feature(OptionalRelease, MandatoryRelease,
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CompilerFlag)
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where, normally, *OptionalRelease* is less than *MandatoryRelease*, and both are
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5-tuples of the same form as ``sys.version_info``::
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(PY_MAJOR_VERSION, # the 2 in 2.1.0a3; an int
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PY_MINOR_VERSION, # the 1; an int
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PY_MICRO_VERSION, # the 0; an int
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PY_RELEASE_LEVEL, # "alpha", "beta", "candidate" or "final"; string
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PY_RELEASE_SERIAL # the 3; an int
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)
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*OptionalRelease* records the first release in which the feature was accepted.
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In the case of a *MandatoryRelease* that has not yet occurred,
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*MandatoryRelease* predicts the release in which the feature will become part of
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the language.
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Else *MandatoryRelease* records when the feature became part of the language; in
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releases at or after that, modules no longer need a future statement to use the
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feature in question, but may continue to use such imports.
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*MandatoryRelease* may also be ``None``, meaning that a planned feature got
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dropped.
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Instances of class :class:`_Feature` have two corresponding methods,
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:meth:`getOptionalRelease` and :meth:`getMandatoryRelease`.
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*CompilerFlag* is the (bitfield) flag that should be passed in the fourth
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argument to the builtin function :func:`compile` to enable the feature in
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dynamically compiled code. This flag is stored in the :attr:`compiler_flag`
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attribute on :class:`_Feature` instances.
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No feature description will ever be deleted from :mod:`__future__`.
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