[webkit-dev] minimum python version to support

[Chris Jerdonek]

No one responded back with a summary of the Python 2.4 discussion, so
I'll attempt a summary of my own after reading--

https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=35584

(If you recall, we are trying to decide what Python code we write
needs to work with Python 2.4.)

The Chromium project still uses Python 2.4 in a significant way.  Some
Chromium bots run new-run-webkit-tests using 2.4, and a number of
developers use 2.4 in their development environments.  Generally
speaking, people support upgrading, but no one is spearheading an
upgrade and there is no ETA.

For the time being, because of the bots, it seems like
new-run-webkit-tests definitely needs to keep working with 2.4.  But
for the tools used more in the development environment (webkit-patch,
etc), it seems like people would be willing to find a way to make
things work with 2.5+.

It would be pretty easy to get all of our Python code working with 2.4
(we had a patch for this a couple weeks ago), but going back wouldn't
let us use some of the nicer constructs.  And we would have to contend
with at least one bug in 2.4.

(End of summary.)

Plainly, the options seem to be--

(1) All Python 2.5+
(2) All Python 2.4
(3) Some combination of (1) and (2) (e.g. new-run-webkit-tests 2.4,
everything else 2.5)

However, (1) does not seem to be an option.  Personally, I'm starting
to lean more toward to (2).  One reason is that we are already
starting to see a case of re-implementing in Python 2.4 (for
new-run-webkit-tests) code that was already written in 2.5:

https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=36063#c4

I also think it would be helpful if we did not need to have this
discussion for each new script we decide to write in Python.  I would
be willing to update the patch from a couple weeks ago that adjusts
things for 2.4.

--Chris




On Sun, Mar 7, 2010 at 4:18 PM, Chris Jerdonek <cjerdonek at webkit.org> wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 6:43 PM, David Kilzer <ddkilzer at webkit.org> wrote:
>> On Thu, March 4, 2010 at 5:35:08 PM, William Siegrist wrote:
>>
>>> Since I have a Tiger machine handy, I tested this and was able to build python
>>> 2.5.5 from MacPorts on a PowerPC. It takes a while, but it worked. I did not try
>>> python 2.6.
>>
>> I've installed python 2.6.4 using MacPorts on my PowerBook G4 running Tiger 10.4.11, and it's worked find with webkit-patch the one or two times I tried it.
>
> That sounds great.  Thanks a lot, Dave and Bill.  So does it seem safe
> to say, then, that folks on 2.3 can upgrade if it ever becomes
> necessary to use one of the tools?
>
> As for Python 2.4, I haven't been following the discussion as closely
> since it seems to affect Chromium developers more.  Can someone
> summarize the state of the discussion there -- does it seem like there
> is a consensus?
>
> --Chris
>