Hello,
The first steps of porting Django to Python 3 was to switch on
unicode_literals, as explained here [1]. This change was discussed in
ticket #18269 [2] and committed in changeset 4a103086d5 [3].
This changeset added `from __future__ import unicode_literals` only
where necessary, ie. in modules that contained explicit unicode
literals. This choice absolutely makes sense. Switching
unicode_literals on everywhere in Django would have resulted in tons
of b"" prefixes and/or in an incredible number of changes. Both
options were unrealistic.
However, it has an unfortunate side effect. In master, some modules
have unicode_literals and others don't. I find myself constantly
checking which mode is in effect.
So we have two options at this point.
(1) The status quo
Pros:
- less work in the short term
- avoiding the cons of solution (2)
Cons:
- check-top-of-file syndrom
- different behavior in Python 2 and Python 3 in some modules
- different behavior between some modules and others (eg.
moving code isn't safe)
- cognitive overhead
(2) Progressively turn unicode_literals on throughout the codebase. If
we do it in small steps, it becomes easier to ensure that the change
from str literals to unicode literals doesn't result in regressions on
Python 2. That's how we handled the entire Python 3 port and it worked
well — several regressions were quickly caught and fixed.
Pros:
- consistent codebase, easier to maintain in the long term
- avoiding the cons of solution (1)
Cons:
- "native strings" have to be expressed as str("...") in
modules that need them
- more changes, higher risk of regressions on Python 2
In my opinion, option (2) is a logical move at this point. However I
believe it deserves a public discussion (or at least an explanation).
What do you think?
Best regards,
--
Aymeric.
[1] https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/topics/python3/#unicode-literals
[2] https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/18269
[3]
https://github.com/django/django/commit/4a103086d5c67fa4fcc53c106c9fdf644c742dd8
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