Merged revisions 74074,74077,74111,74188,74192-74193,74200,74252-74253,74258-74261 via svnmerge from

svn+ssh://pythondev@svn.python.org/python/trunk

........
  r74074 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-18 05:03:10 -0400 (Sat, 18 Jul 2009) | 1 line

  #6513: fix example code: warning categories are classes, not instances.
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  r74077 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-18 05:43:40 -0400 (Sat, 18 Jul 2009) | 1 line

  #6489: fix an ambiguity in getiterator() documentation.
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  r74111 | benjamin.peterson | 2009-07-20 09:30:10 -0400 (Mon, 20 Jul 2009) | 1 line

  remove docs for deprecated -p option
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  r74188 | benjamin.peterson | 2009-07-23 10:25:31 -0400 (Thu, 23 Jul 2009) | 1 line

  use bools
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  r74192 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-24 12:28:38 -0400 (Fri, 24 Jul 2009) | 1 line

  Fix arg types of et#.
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  r74193 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-24 12:46:38 -0400 (Fri, 24 Jul 2009) | 1 line

  Dont put "void" in signature for nullary functions.
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  r74200 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-25 09:02:15 -0400 (Sat, 25 Jul 2009) | 1 line

  #6571: add index entries for more operators.
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  r74252 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-29 12:06:31 -0400 (Wed, 29 Jul 2009) | 1 line

  #6593: fix link targets.
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  r74253 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-29 12:09:17 -0400 (Wed, 29 Jul 2009) | 1 line

  #6591: add reference to ioctl in fcntl module for platforms other than Windows.
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  r74258 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-29 12:57:05 -0400 (Wed, 29 Jul 2009) | 1 line

  Add a link to readline, and mention IPython and bpython.
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  r74259 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-29 13:07:21 -0400 (Wed, 29 Jul 2009) | 1 line

  Fix some markup and small factual glitches found by M. Markert.
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  r74260 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-29 13:15:20 -0400 (Wed, 29 Jul 2009) | 1 line

  Fix a few markup glitches.
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  r74261 | georg.brandl | 2009-07-29 13:50:25 -0400 (Wed, 29 Jul 2009) | 1 line

  Rewrite the section about classes a bit; mostly tidbits, and a larger update to the section about "private" variables to reflect the Pythonic consensus better.
........

5 files changed, 116 insertions, 102 deletions

diff --git a/Doc/tutorial/classes.rst b/Doc/tutorial/classes.rst
index 191e95c..0cb5593 100644
--- a/Doc/tutorial/classes.rst
+++ b/Doc/tutorial/classes.rst
@@ -12,44 +12,41 @@ user not to "break into the definition."  The most important features of classes
 are retained with full power, however: the class inheritance mechanism allows
 multiple base classes, a derived class can override any methods of its base
 class or classes, and a method can call the method of a base class with the same
-name.  Objects can contain an arbitrary amount of private data.
+name.  Objects can contain an arbitrary amount of data.
 
 In C++ terminology, normally class members (including the data members) are
 *public* (except see below :ref:`tut-private`),
-and all member functions are *virtual*.  There are no special constructors or
-destructors.  As in Modula-3, there are no shorthands for referencing the
-object's members from its methods: the method function is declared with an
-explicit first argument representing the object, which is provided implicitly by
-the call.  As in Smalltalk, classes themselves are objects, albeit in the wider
-sense of the word: in Python, all data types are objects.  This provides
-semantics for importing and renaming.  Unlike  C++ and Modula-3, built-in types
-can be used as base classes for extension by the user.  Also, like in C++ but
-unlike in Modula-3, most built-in operators with special syntax (arithmetic
+and all member functions are *virtual*.  As in Modula-3, there are no shorthands
+for referencing the object's members from its methods: the method function is
+declared with an explicit first argument representing the object, which is
+provided implicitly by the call.  As in Smalltalk, classes themselves are
+objects.  This provides semantics for importing and renaming.  Unlike C++ and
+Modula-3, built-in types can be used as base classes for extension by the user.
+Also, like in C++, most built-in operators with special syntax (arithmetic
 operators, subscripting etc.) can be redefined for class instances.
 
+(Lacking universally accepted terminology to talk about classes, I will make
+occasional use of Smalltalk and C++ terms.  I would use Modula-3 terms, since
+its object-oriented semantics are closer to those of Python than C++, but I
+expect that few readers have heard of it.)
 
-.. _tut-terminology:
 
-A Word About Terminology
-========================
+.. _tut-object:
 
-Lacking universally accepted terminology to talk about classes, I will make
-occasional use of Smalltalk and C++ terms.  (I would use Modula-3 terms, since
-its object-oriented semantics are closer to those of Python than C++, but I
-expect that few readers have heard of it.)
+A Word About Names and Objects
+==============================
 
 Objects have individuality, and multiple names (in multiple scopes) can be bound
 to the same object.  This is known as aliasing in other languages.  This is
 usually not appreciated on a first glance at Python, and can be safely ignored
 when dealing with immutable basic types (numbers, strings, tuples).  However,
-aliasing has an (intended!) effect on the semantics of Python code involving
-mutable objects such as lists, dictionaries, and most types representing
-entities outside the program (files, windows, etc.).  This is usually used to
-the benefit of the program, since aliases behave like pointers in some respects.
-For example, passing an object is cheap since only a pointer is passed by the
-implementation; and if a function modifies an object passed as an argument, the
-caller will see the change --- this eliminates the need for two different
-argument passing mechanisms as in Pascal.
+aliasing has a possibly surprising effect on the semantics of Python code
+involving mutable objects such as lists, dictionaries, and most other types.
+This is usually used to the benefit of the program, since aliases behave like
+pointers in some respects.  For example, passing an object is cheap since only a
+pointer is passed by the implementation; and if a function modifies an object
+passed as an argument, the caller will see the change --- this eliminates the
+need for two different argument passing mechanisms as in Pascal.
 
 
 .. _tut-scopes:
@@ -73,7 +70,7 @@ built-in exception names); the global names in a module; and the local names in
 a function invocation.  In a sense the set of attributes of an object also form
 a namespace.  The important thing to know about namespaces is that there is
 absolutely no relation between names in different namespaces; for instance, two
-different modules may both define a function "maximize" without confusion ---
+different modules may both define a function ``maximize`` without confusion ---
 users of the modules must prefix it with the module name.
 
 By the way, I use the word *attribute* for any name following a dot --- for
@@ -112,11 +109,13 @@ name attempts to find the name in the namespace.
 
 Although scopes are determined statically, they are used dynamically. At any
 time during execution, there are at least three nested scopes whose namespaces
-are directly accessible: the innermost scope, which is searched first, contains
-the local names; the namespaces of any enclosing functions, which are searched
-starting with the nearest enclosing scope; the middle scope, searched next,
-contains the current module's global names; and the outermost scope (searched
-last) is the namespace containing built-in names.
+are directly accessible:
+
+* the innermost scope, which is searched first, contains the local names
+* the scopes of any enclosing functions, which are searched starting with the
+  nearest enclosing scope, contains non-local, but also non-global names
+* the next-to-last scope contains the current module's global names
+* the outermost scope (searched last) is the namespace containing built-in names
 
 If a name is declared global, then all references and assignments go directly to
 the middle scope containing the module's global names.  To rebind variables
@@ -138,15 +137,15 @@ language definition is evolving towards static name resolution, at "compile"
 time, so don't rely on dynamic name resolution!  (In fact, local variables are
 already determined statically.)
 
-A special quirk of Python is that -- if no :keyword:`global` or
-:keyword:`nonlocal` statement is in effect -- assignments to names always go
-into the innermost scope.  Assignments do not copy data --- they just bind names
-to objects.  The same is true for deletions: the statement ``del x`` removes the
-binding of ``x`` from the namespace referenced by the local scope.  In fact, all
-operations that introduce new names use the local scope: in particular, import
-statements and function definitions bind the module or function name in the
-local scope.  (The :keyword:`global` statement can be used to indicate that
-particular variables live in the global scope.)
+A special quirk of Python is that -- if no :keyword:`global` statement is in
+effect -- assignments to names always go into the innermost scope.  Assignments
+do not copy data --- they just bind names to objects.  The same is true for
+deletions: the statement ``del x`` removes the binding of ``x`` from the
+namespace referenced by the local scope.  In fact, all operations that introduce
+new names use the local scope: in particular, :keyword:`import` statements and
+function definitions bind the module or function name in the local scope.  (The
+:keyword:`global` statement can be used to indicate that particular variables
+live in the global scope.)
 
 The :keyword:`global` statement can be used to indicate that particular
 variables live in the global scope and should be rebound there; the
@@ -424,9 +423,9 @@ glancing through a method.
 
 Often, the first argument of a method is called ``self``.  This is nothing more
 than a convention: the name ``self`` has absolutely no special meaning to
-Python.  (Note, however, that by not following the convention your code may be
+Python.  Note, however, that by not following the convention your code may be
 less readable to other Python programmers, and it is also conceivable that a
-*class browser* program might be written that relies upon such a convention.)
+*class browser* program might be written that relies upon such a convention.
 
 Any function object that is a class attribute defines a method for instances of
 that class.  It is not necessary that the function definition is textually
@@ -462,13 +461,13 @@ argument::
 
 Methods may reference global names in the same way as ordinary functions.  The
 global scope associated with a method is the module containing the class
-definition.  (The class itself is never used as a global scope!)  While one
+definition.  (The class itself is never used as a global scope.)  While one
 rarely encounters a good reason for using global data in a method, there are
 many legitimate uses of the global scope: for one thing, functions and modules
 imported into the global scope can be used by methods, as well as functions and
 classes defined in it.  Usually, the class containing the method is itself
 defined in this global scope, and in the next section we'll find some good
-reasons why a method would want to reference its own class!
+reasons why a method would want to reference its own class.
 
 Each value is an object, and therefore has a *class* (also called its *type*).
 It is stored as ``object.__class__``.
@@ -519,12 +518,12 @@ An overriding method in a derived class may in fact want to extend rather than
 simply replace the base class method of the same name. There is a simple way to
 call the base class method directly: just call ``BaseClassName.methodname(self,
 arguments)``.  This is occasionally useful to clients as well.  (Note that this
-only works if the base class is defined or imported directly in the global
+only works if the base class is accessible as ``BaseClassName`` in the global
 scope.)
 
 Python has two built-in functions that work with inheritance:
 
-* Use :func:`isinstance` to check an object's type: ``isinstance(obj, int)``
+* Use :func:`isinstance` to check an instance's type: ``isinstance(obj, int)``
   will be ``True`` only if ``obj.__class__`` is :class:`int` or some class
   derived from :class:`int`.
 
@@ -582,28 +581,30 @@ http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.3/mro/.
 Private Variables
 =================
 
-There is limited support for class-private identifiers.  Any identifier of the
-form ``__spam`` (at least two leading underscores, at most one trailing
-underscore) is textually replaced with ``_classname__spam``, where ``classname``
-is the current class name with leading underscore(s) stripped.  This mangling is
-done without regard to the syntactic position of the identifier, so it can be
-used to define class-private instance and class variables, methods, variables
-stored in globals, and even variables stored in instances. private to this class
-on instances of *other* classes.  Truncation may occur when the mangled name
-would be longer than 255 characters. Outside classes, or when the class name
-consists of only underscores, no mangling occurs.
-
-Name mangling is intended to give classes an easy way to define "private"
-instance variables and methods, without having to worry about instance variables
-defined by derived classes, or mucking with instance variables by code outside
-the class.  Note that the mangling rules are designed mostly to avoid accidents;
-it still is possible for a determined soul to access or modify a variable that
-is considered private.  This can even be useful in special circumstances, such
-as in the debugger, and that's one reason why this loophole is not closed.
-(Buglet: derivation of a class with the same name as the base class makes use of
-private variables of the base class possible.)
-
-Notice that code passed to ``exec()`` or ``eval()`` does not
+"Private" instance variables that cannot be accessed except from inside an
+object, don't exist in Python.  However, there is a convention that is followed
+by most Python code: a name prefixed with an underscore (e.g. ``_spam``) should
+be treated as a non-public part of the API (whether it is a function, a method
+or a data member).  It should be considered an implementation detail and subject
+to change without notice.
+
+Since there is a valid use-case for class-private members (namely to avoid name
+clashes of names with names defined by subclasses), there is limited support for
+such a mechanism, called :dfn:`name mangling`.  Any identifier of the form
+``__spam`` (at least two leading underscores, at most one trailing underscore)
+is textually replaced with ``_classname__spam``, where ``classname`` is the
+current class name with leading underscore(s) stripped.  This mangling is done
+without regard to the syntactic position of the identifier, so it can be used to
+define class-private instance and class variables, methods, variables stored in
+globals, and even variables stored in instances.  Truncation may occur when the
+mangled name would be longer than 255 characters.  Outside classes, or when the
+class name consists of only underscores, no mangling occurs.
+
+Note that the mangling rules are designed mostly to avoid accidents; it still is
+possible to access or modify a variable that is considered private.  This can
+even be useful in special circumstances, such as in the debugger.
+
+Notice that code passed to ``exec()``, ``eval()`` or ``execfile()`` does not
 consider the classname of the invoking  class to be the current class; this is
 similar to the effect of the  ``global`` statement, the effect of which is
 likewise restricted to  code that is byte-compiled together.  The same
@@ -654,7 +655,7 @@ Exceptions Are Classes Too
 User-defined exceptions are identified by classes as well.  Using this mechanism
 it is possible to create extensible hierarchies of exceptions.
 
-There are two valid (semantic) forms for the raise statement::
+There are two new valid (semantic) forms for the :keyword:`raise` statement::
 
    raise Class
 
@@ -665,10 +666,10 @@ class derived from it.  The first form is a shorthand for::
 
    raise Class()
 
-A class in an except clause is compatible with an exception if it is the same
-class or a base class thereof (but not the other way around --- an except clause
-listing a derived class is not compatible with a base class).  For example, the
-following code will print B, C, D in that order::
+A class in an :keyword:`except` clause is compatible with an exception if it is
+the same class or a base class thereof (but not the other way around --- an
+except clause listing a derived class is not compatible with a base class).  For
+example, the following code will print B, C, D in that order::
 
    class B(Exception):
        pass
diff --git a/Doc/tutorial/inputoutput.rst b/Doc/tutorial/inputoutput.rst
index b1efd1a..662407a 100644
--- a/Doc/tutorial/inputoutput.rst
+++ b/Doc/tutorial/inputoutput.rst
@@ -130,16 +130,17 @@ Basic usage of the :meth:`str.format` method looks like this::
    We are the knights who say "Ni!"
 
 The brackets and characters within them (called format fields) are replaced with
-the objects passed into the format method.  The number in the brackets refers to
-the position of the object passed into the format method. ::
+the objects passed into the :meth:`~str.format` method.  The number in the
+brackets refers to the position of the object passed into the
+:meth:`~str.format` method. ::
 
    >>> print('{0} and {1}'.format('spam', 'eggs'))
    spam and eggs
    >>> print('{1} and {0}'.format('spam', 'eggs'))
    eggs and spam
 
-If keyword arguments are used in the format method, their values are referred to
-by using the name of the argument. ::
+If keyword arguments are used in the :meth:`~str.format` method, their values
+are referred to by using the name of the argument. ::
 
    >>> print('This {food} is {adjective}.'.format(
    ...       food='spam', adjective='absolutely horrible'))
@@ -160,7 +161,7 @@ truncates the Pi to three places after the decimal.
    The value of PI is approximately 3.142.
 
 Passing an integer after the ``':'`` will cause that field to be a minimum
-number of characters wide.  This is useful for making tables pretty.::
+number of characters wide.  This is useful for making tables pretty. ::
 
    >>> table = {'Sjoerd': 4127, 'Jack': 4098, 'Dcab': 7678}
    >>> for name, phone in table.items():
@@ -181,7 +182,7 @@ square brackets ``'[]'`` to access the keys ::
    Jack: 4098; Sjoerd: 4127; Dcab: 8637678
 
 This could also be done by passing the table as keyword arguments with the '**'
-notation.::
+notation. ::
 
    >>> table = {'Sjoerd': 4127, 'Jack': 4098, 'Dcab': 8637678}
    >>> print('Jack: {Jack:d}; Sjoerd: {Sjoerd:d}; Dcab: {Dcab:d}'.format(**table))
@@ -374,9 +375,9 @@ shorter than writing equivalent :keyword:`try`\ -\ :keyword:`finally` blocks::
     >>> f.closed
     True
 
-File objects have some additional methods, such as :meth:`isatty` and
-:meth:`truncate` which are less frequently used; consult the Library Reference
-for a complete guide to file objects.
+File objects have some additional methods, such as :meth:`~file.isatty` and
+:meth:`~file.truncate` which are less frequently used; consult the Library
+Reference for a complete guide to file objects.
 
 
 .. _tut-pickle:
diff --git a/Doc/tutorial/interactive.rst b/Doc/tutorial/interactive.rst
index 56890cd..ca0cfaf 100644
--- a/Doc/tutorial/interactive.rst
+++ b/Doc/tutorial/interactive.rst
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ Interactive Input Editing and History Substitution
 
 Some versions of the Python interpreter support editing of the current input
 line and history substitution, similar to facilities found in the Korn shell and
-the GNU Bash shell.  This is implemented using the *GNU Readline* library, which
-supports Emacs-style and vi-style editing.  This library has its own
+the GNU Bash shell.  This is implemented using the `GNU Readline`_ library,
+which supports Emacs-style and vi-style editing.  This library has its own
 documentation which I won't duplicate here; however, the basics are easily
 explained.  The interactive editing and history described here are optionally
 available in the Unix and Cygwin versions of the interpreter.
@@ -148,8 +148,8 @@ interpreter. ::
 
 .. _tut-commentary:
 
-Commentary
-==========
+Alternatives to the Interactive Interpreter
+===========================================
 
 This facility is an enormous step forward compared to earlier versions of the
 interpreter; however, some wishes are left: It would be nice if the proper
@@ -158,8 +158,12 @@ token is required next).  The completion mechanism might use the interpreter's
 symbol table.  A command to check (or even suggest) matching parentheses,
 quotes, etc., would also be useful.
 
-.. %
-   Do we mention IPython? DUBOIS
+One alternative enhanced interactive interpreter that has been around for quite
+some time is `IPython`_, which features tab completion, object exploration and
+advanced history management.  It can also be thoroughly customized and embedded
+into other applications.  Another similar enhanced interactive environment is
+`bpython`_.
+
 
 .. rubric:: Footnotes
 
@@ -167,3 +171,7 @@ quotes, etc., would also be useful.
    :envvar:`PYTHONSTARTUP` environment variable when you start an interactive
    interpreter.
 
+
+.. _GNU Readline: http://tiswww.case.edu/php/chet/readline/rltop.html
+.. _IPython: http://ipython.scipy.org/
+.. _bpython: http://www.bpython-interpreter.org/
diff --git a/Doc/tutorial/modules.rst b/Doc/tutorial/modules.rst
index 844eed0..1023ba8 100644
--- a/Doc/tutorial/modules.rst
+++ b/Doc/tutorial/modules.rst
@@ -448,14 +448,14 @@ one would hope that this somehow goes out to the filesystem, finds which
 submodules are present in the package, and imports them all.  Unfortunately,
 this operation does not work very well on Windows platforms, where the
 filesystem does not always have accurate information about the case of a
-filename!  On these platforms, there is no guaranteed way to know whether a file
+filename.  On these platforms, there is no guaranteed way to know whether a file
 :file:`ECHO.PY` should be imported as a module :mod:`echo`, :mod:`Echo` or
 :mod:`ECHO`.  (For example, Windows 95 has the annoying practice of showing all
 file names with a capitalized first letter.)  The DOS 8+3 filename restriction
 adds another interesting problem for long module names.
 
 The only solution is for the package author to provide an explicit index of the
-package.  The import statement uses the following convention: if a package's
+package.  The :keyword:`import` statement uses the following convention: if a package's
 :file:`__init__.py` code defines a list named ``__all__``, it is taken to be the
 list of module names that should be imported when ``from package import *`` is
 encountered.  It is up to the package author to keep this list up-to-date when a
@@ -476,16 +476,16 @@ been imported (possibly running any initialization code in :file:`__init__.py`)
 and then imports whatever names are defined in the package.  This includes any
 names defined (and submodules explicitly loaded) by :file:`__init__.py`.  It
 also includes any submodules of the package that were explicitly loaded by
-previous import statements.  Consider this code::
+previous :keyword:`import` statements.  Consider this code::
 
    import sound.effects.echo
    import sound.effects.surround
    from sound.effects import *
 
-In this example, the echo and surround modules are imported in the current
-namespace because they are defined in the :mod:`sound.effects` package when the
-``from...import`` statement is executed.  (This also works when ``__all__`` is
-defined.)
+In this example, the :mod:`echo` and :mod:`surround` modules are imported in the
+current namespace because they are defined in the :mod:`sound.effects` package
+when the ``from...import`` statement is executed.  (This also works when
+``__all__`` is defined.)
 
 Note that in general the practice of importing ``*`` from a module or package is
 frowned upon, since it often causes poorly readable code. However, it is okay to
@@ -537,5 +537,6 @@ modules found in a package.
 .. rubric:: Footnotes
 
 .. [#] In fact function definitions are also 'statements' that are 'executed'; the
-   execution enters the function name in the module's global symbol table.
+   execution of a module-level function enters the function name in the module's
+   global symbol table.
 
diff --git a/Doc/tutorial/stdlib2.rst b/Doc/tutorial/stdlib2.rst
index 938430f..4d7f1c5 100644
--- a/Doc/tutorial/stdlib2.rst
+++ b/Doc/tutorial/stdlib2.rst
@@ -347,12 +347,15 @@ Decimal Floating Point Arithmetic
 
 The :mod:`decimal` module offers a :class:`Decimal` datatype for decimal
 floating point arithmetic.  Compared to the built-in :class:`float`
-implementation of binary floating point, the new class is especially helpful for
-financial applications and other uses which require exact decimal
-representation, control over precision, control over rounding to meet legal or
-regulatory requirements, tracking of significant decimal places, or for
-applications where the user expects the results to match calculations done by
-hand.
+implementation of binary floating point, the class is especially helpful for
+
+* financial applications and other uses which require exact decimal
+  representation,
+* control over precision,
+* control over rounding to meet legal or regulatory requirements,
+* tracking of significant decimal places, or
+* applications where the user expects the results to match calculations done by
+  hand.
 
 For example, calculating a 5% tax on a 70 cent phone charge gives different
 results in decimal floating point and binary floating point. The difference