Python as a Designed Language

One of the things I liked when switching from PHP to Python was the way a little learning went further. Once I understood how to perform certain operations with strings e.g. slicing, I also automatically knew how to do the same thing with other sequences. Python basically felt more elegant and designed. Less was more. And it didn't feel like Python had just grown and grown - it felt like it had been designed.

The "designed" feeling is not just about what has been included but also about what is left out. Sometimes different ways of doing the same thing are noise making it harder to learn any of the alternatives properly. As it says in the Zen of Python, "There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it."

Reality

In reality, Python has not been able to retain all the elegance of its earliest, smaller and less capable versions. Some good features have been added without others being deprecated, or, at least, explicitly reserved for more specialised use cases - see Classy Data with Dataclasses. Over time, this situation only gets worse unless there is some process of deprecation.

Deprecation

Fortunately, the deprecation process seems to be ramping up, at least for modules. See PEP 594 – Removing dead batteries from the standard library for a discussion of hard deprecations and the planned timetable.¹ There is also a soft deprecation process Formalize the concept of “soft deprecation” (don’t schedule removal) in PEP 387 “Backwards Compatibility Policy”. Soft deprecation is good because it can be exercised more quickly and widely than hard deprecation - there won't be as many unintended consequences or side effects. In general, Python is adopting a much more considered approach to deprecation than in the past - see Python Incompatible Changes - Victor Stinner

Deprecated Python

The When Of Python splits Python features into Common Python, Situational Python, and Deprecated Python. Deprecated Python is an especially useful concept because it allows us to shrink Python and better meet the goal of having one obvious way of doing things. Ideally we will deprecate more features in future releases of Python.

1. Sometimes there can be a stay of execution. For example, David Beazley argued that the wave module is "easy to teach to kids and can make crazy sounds". According to the PEP, therefore, "it's a fun battery to keep." ↩