Add some stdlib items; remove 'other changes' section; fix sorting error in list of changed modules

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Andrew M. Kuchling 2004-09-10 13:05:22 +00:00
parent 55be9eab38
commit a331e86452

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@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ changes as the radical Python 2.2, but introduces more features than
the conservative 2.3 release did. The most significant new language
features (as of this writing) are function decorators and generator
expressions; most other changes are to the standard library.
% XXX update these figures as we go
According to the CVS change logs, there were 421 patches applied and
413 bugs fixed between Python 2.3 and 2.4. Both figures are likely to
be underestimates.
This article doesn't attempt to provide a complete specification of
every single new feature, but instead provides a convenient overview.
@ -229,6 +234,9 @@ method that ignores missing keys:
u'3: $title'
\end{verbatim}
% $ Terminate math-mode for Emacs
\begin{seealso}
\seepep{292}{Simpler String Substitutions}{Written and implemented
by Barry Warsaw.}
@ -950,17 +958,15 @@ details.
\begin{itemize}
% XXX new email parser
\item The \module{asyncore} module's \function{loop()} now has a
\var{count} parameter that lets you perform a limited number
of passes through the polling loop. The default is still to loop
forever.
\item The \module{curses} modules now supports the ncurses extension
\function{use_default_colors()}. On platforms where the terminal
supports transparency, this makes it possible to use a transparent
background. (Contributed by J\"org Lehmann.)
\item The \module{base64} module now has more complete RFC 3548 support
for Base64, Base32, and Base16 encoding and decoding, including
optional case folding and optional alternative alphabets.
(Contributed by Barry Warsaw.)
\item The \module{bisect} module now has an underlying C implementation
for improved performance.
@ -1017,6 +1023,22 @@ improved performance, such as the \module{Queue} and
\exception{TypeError} if passed a \var{value} argument that isn't a
string.
\item The \module{curses} module now supports the ncurses extension
\function{use_default_colors()}. On platforms where the terminal
supports transparency, this makes it possible to use a transparent
background. (Contributed by J\"org Lehmann.)
\item The \module{difflib} module now includes an \class{HtmlDiff} class
that creates an HTML table showing a side by side comparison
of two versions of a text. (Contributed by Dan Gass.)
\item The \module{email} package uses a new incremental parser for MIME
message, available in the \module{email.FeedParser} module.
The new parser doesn't require reading the entire message into memory,
and doesn't throw exceptions if a message is malformed; instead it records
any problems as a \member{defect} attribute of the message.
(Developed by Anthony Baxter, Barry Warsaw, Thomas Wouters, and others.)
\item The \module{heapq} module has been converted to C. The resulting
tenfold improvement in speed makes the module suitable for handling
high volumes of data. In addition, the module has two new functions
@ -1237,6 +1259,10 @@ Other threads can assign and retrieve their own values for the
\class{local} to initialize attributes or to add methods.
(Contributed by Jim Fulton.)
\item The \module{timeit} module now automatically disables periodic
garbarge collection during the timing loop. This change makes
consecutive timings more comparable.
\item The \module{weakref} module now supports a wider variety of objects
including Python functions, class instances, sets, frozensets, deques,
arrays, files, sockets, and regular expression pattern objects.
@ -1337,30 +1363,6 @@ Changes to Python's build process and to the C API include:
\end{itemize}
%======================================================================
\section{Other Changes and Fixes \label{section-other}}
% XXX update these figures as we go
As usual, there were a bunch of other improvements and bugfixes
scattered throughout the source tree. A search through the CVS change
logs finds there were 421 patches applied and 413 bugs fixed between
Python 2.3 and 2.4. Both figures are likely to be underestimates.
Some of the more notable changes are:
\begin{itemize}
\item The \module{timeit} module now automatically disables periodic
garbarge collection during the timing loop. This change makes
consecutive timings more comparable.
\item The \module{base64} module now has more complete RFC 3548 support
for Base64, Base32, and Base16 encoding and decoding, including
optional case folding and optional alternative alphabets.
(Contributed by Barry Warsaw.)
\end{itemize}
%======================================================================
\section{Porting to Python 2.4}