[Biopython-dev] [Biopython] Phasing out support for Python 2.4?

[Peter]

On Thu, Jan 14, 2010 at 4:04 PM, Martin MOKREJŠ
<mmokrejs at fold.natur.cuni.cz> wrote:
>
> Hi Peter,
> I don't get this point much. What is the problem stating that with
> python 2.5+ one does not need to install an extra dependency while
> for 2.4 one needs _two_ modules?
> I don't think I want BioSQL nor sqlite so why would I have to upgrade.
> Would the requirement be in python language syntax incompatibility then
> I would NOT object, but in this situation ...
> Martin

Hi Martin,

This isn't just the issue of sqlite3 and ElementTree. There
are several benefits to using more recent versions of Python,
for example with an eye on the future for Python 3, and on
a practical level it simplifies our testing to have one less
version to worry about (especially once Python 2.7 is out,
currently scheduled for June 2010).

We've already had minor issues with developers using
Python 2.5+ syntax unwittingly which broke on Python
2.4 (nothing major, and it was easily fixed once the
problem was spotted). If we continue to insist on Python
2.4 support, it may prove problematic for if future potential
contributors have existing code written for Python 2.5+
which would require significant re-factoring.

None of these concerns are pressing right now (and
some are hypothetical), but I think you will agree that
Python 2.4 is pretty old, and not widely used anymore.
Having a clear plan in place for dropping it seems a
sensible move, and once that happens we can start
to take advantage of the language and library
improvements Python 2.5 added.

Are you personally using Python 2.4? If so, could you
tell us a little more - for example, is this a university
server which would be difficult to update? Or do you
require some other Python package which requires
Python 2.4?

Thanks,

Peter