December 27, 2015

The PEP Talk

1 hour 45 minutes

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Summary

The Python language is built by and for its community. In order to add a new feature, change the specification, or create a new policy the first step is to submit a proposal for consideration. Those proposals are called PEPs, or Python Enhancement Proposals. In this episode we had the great pleasure of speaking with three of the people who act as stewards for this process to learn more about how it got started, how it works, and what impacts it has had.

Brief Introduction

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Searching for Pythonistas with Disabilities

We are recording today on December 7th, 2015 and your hosts as usual are Tobias Macey and Chris Patti

Today we are interviewing some of the PEP editors

Interview with PEP editors

Introductions

How did you get introduced to Python? – Chris

For anyone who isn’t familiar with them, can you explain what a PEP is and how they influence the Python language? – Tobias

What are the requirements for a PEP to be considered for approval and what does the overall process look like to get it finalized? – Tobias

How has the PEP process evolved to meet challenges posed by changes in the Python community? – Chris

How many reviewers are there and how did each of you end up in that role? Is there a set number of editors that must be maintained and if so how did you arrive at that number? – Tobias

What mistakes have other communities made when creating similar processes, and how has PEP learned from those mistakes? – Chris

There are different categories for PEPs. Can you describe what those are and how you arrived at that ontology? – Tobias

Is there any significance to the numbering system used for identifying different PEPs? – Tobias

How does the PEP process maintain its sense of humor (e.g. PEP 20) while being sure to be taken seriously where it really counts? – Chris

Along the lines of humorous PEPs, can you share the story of PEP 401? – Tobias

How does the PEP process strive to prevent an undesirable level of control by any one company or other special interest group? – Chris

How much control does Guido have over the PEP process? Has a PEP ever directly countered Guido’s wishes? How did it turn out? – Chris

What is your favorite PEP and why? – Tobias

Barry: PEP 20

Chris: PEP 479

David: PEP 20

What, in your opinion, has been the most important or far-reaching PEP, whether it was approved or not? – Tobias

David: PEP 20

Chris: PEP 466

Barry: PEP 8

What was the strangest / most extreme PEP proposal you’ve ever seen? – Chris

Chris: PEP 501

Barry: PEP 507

David: PEP 666

Picks

Tobias

Wagtail CMS

Inside Out

Spark Podcast

Hymn for Atheists

Chris

Trumbo

Kivy Crash Course

Jihadology Podcast

Barry

Tox

Nose2

Jessica Jones

The Joy of Science

Chris

The Git Manpage Generator

Daily MTG

David

Tim’s Vermeer

Ready Player One

The Aristocrats

Scientific Songs of Praise

Hollywood Babble On

Keep In Touch

Barry

Blog

Chris

Blog

GitHub

David

Website

Blog

Links

Monty Python – All the Words

Monty Python – On YouTube

PEP 404

PEP 666

Raymond Hettinger PyCon 2015 PEP8 talk

Python Dev Mailing List

Python Ideas Mailing List

Python Bug Mailing List

The intro and outro music is from Requiem for a Fish The Freak Fandango Orchestra / CC BY-SA

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By Tobias Macey

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