Here’s the 6th draft:
Please read this message before posting an idea
Would you like to change something in Python? This might be the category for you. Use this category to get feedback on an idea you’d like to see in a future version of Python.
Understand that Python is a volunteer project. All ideas integrated into Python are developed, implemented and maintained by volunteers to improve Python for the benefit of the community. This typically happens via the procedure outlined in PEP 1. When you make a proposal, you volunteer to help make it happen. How you help depends on your skills and experience, but you should at least expect people to assume that you’ll do research, lead the discussion and respond to comments and criticism. Don’t expect others to do tasks that you don’t want to do.
The following articles provide general expectations about how Python is developed and the spirit of the Python community:
- Python Software Foundation Code of Conduct
- Setting expectations for open source participation
- Justifying Python language changes
- Status quo wins a stalemate
- Design and History FAQ
Any serious proposal must address the following requirements and questions:
- First, consider Python’s Backwards Compatibility Policy and its implications for your idea.
- You should also investigate whether your idea, or a similar one, has been proposed before. If so, your new proposal should address the reasons why the old one didn’t move forward. Why should the idea move forward now if it didn’t in the past? To find old similar proposals, check at least the following:
- The PEP Index
- The Ideas and Python Help categories on this forum
- The historical python-ideas mailing list
- The issue tracker
- Address other ways to achieve the same goals as your idea. Why are they not sufficient so that you are asking for a change to Python? For example, why can’t a PyPI package, recipe in the documentation or utility function suffice to satisfy your idea? You should also explain why it is better for this to be available in a few years, when the version of Python it is being added to is available, rather than right now, which is what a recipe or PyPI library offers.
- Give clear examples of how your idea would be used and what problems it would solve. A simple GitHub search isn’t good enough, you need to provide an in-depth review of codebases where a real benefit can be demonstrated.
- Answer the following questions:
- Who will develop the source code and documentation for this idea?
- Who will maintain the source code and documentation for this idea?
- How burdensome will these jobs be for whoever is doing them?
- How will you personally contribute to the realization of this idea?
Please think about all these requirements and questions and address them in the topic you create for your new idea. This will save your time and the time of others who read this forum (including core devs who need to sponsor PEPs) to raise and address them. In addition, others on this forum will be more likely to respond to and engage with your ideas, increasing the likelihood that they’ll be adopted.
There should be no discussion of the content of your idea before these points have been addressed.