The Python Standard Libraries: Not Very Good
2009 November 28
Thomas Vander Stichele, whom I have never met but works in some of the areas of Linux that I used to be involved with, writes about some ugly code he found in the Python standard libraries, and says
I usually tend to think of Python as the discerning gentleman’s programming language: well-behaved, well- documented, people take care of the code written. I like the batteries- included approach and assume that the battery code in the standard library is well-written …
I have to say that I have no idea what he’s talking about. The Python standard libraries are terrible. Everywhere you look there are inconsistent APIs and coding styles, redundant or missing functionality, widely ranging quality in the documentation, and poorly-engineered solutions. Consider the description of the subprocess module:
… This module intends to replace several other, older modules and functions like:
- os.system
- os.spawn*
- os.popen*
- popen2.*
- commands.*
That is, the Python standard libraries contain at least four different APIs for invoking subprograms, and I have to say that I still don’t think latest iteration is great. The os module, which provides core functionality, just exposes the standard POSIX API without making any efforts to map it into the language helpfully or abstract very well for non-POSIX systems. Google indicates that urllib is pretty widely hated. StringIO vs cStringIO, pickle vs. cPickle, about a dozen different database and XML modules … it’s a mess.
Now, of course, this is all just saying that the Python standard libraries are what they are: they were written by many different people in many different styles at different times, and they were developed quickly to get functionality out there so people could use it. I think that is very Pythonic: Get Stuff Done and if not everything is perfect, so be it. But I have to say, it’d be nice if the standard libraries were better. They’re bread-and-butter APIs, and it would, you know, be nice if they were carefully and thoughtfully designed. The fact that they aren’t turns out not to be a deal-breaker, but it remains unfortunate.