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Tue Nov 25 01:45:08 EST 2003 · https://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2003-November/040434.html

> After re-reading previous posts on the subject, I had an idea.  Let's
> isolate these functions in the documentation into a separate section
> following the rest of the builtins.
>  
> The cost of having these builtins is not that they take up a few entries
> in the directory listing.  Also, it's no real burden to leave them in
> the code base.  The real cost is that when learning the language, after
> reading the tutorial, the next step is to make sure you know what all
> the builtins do before moving on to study the library offerings. 
>  
> The problem with buffer() and intern() is not that they are totally
> useless.  The problem is that it that it is darned difficult an everyday
> user to invent productive use cases.  Here on python-dev, one defender
> arose for each and said that they once had a use for them.  So, let's
> leave the functionality intact and just move it off the list of things
> you need to know.  In both cases, it would have saved me some hours
> spent trying to figure out what they were good for - I wish someone had
> just said, "you can ignore these two". These functions are just
> distractors in a person's mental concept space.
>  
> There's really nothing wrong with have apply() and coerce() being
> supported for old code.  The problem with them is why bother even
> knowing that they exist - they just don't figure into modern python
> code.  Any time spent learning them now is time that could have been
> spent learning about the copy or pickle modules or some such.
>  
> Moving these functions to a separate section sends a clear message to
> trainers and book writers that it is okay to skip these topics. Getting
> them out of the critical path for learning python will make the language
> even easier to master.
>  
> Some are highly resistant to deprecation because it makes their lives
> more difficult.  However, I think even they would like a list of "things
> you just don't need to know anymore".  In other words, you don't have to
> wait for Py3.0 for a clean house, just push all the clutter in a corner
> and walk around it.

Sounds like a good idea.

--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)

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[Python-Dev] Banishing apply(), buffer(), coerce(), and intern()