Misleading __version__ attribute of modules in standard library

[abukaj]

BPO	31826
Nosy	@warsaw, @rhettinger, @ncoghlan, @pitrou, @merwok, @encukou, @serhiy-storchaka, @abukaj, @cryvate
PRs	bpo-31826: remove unused __version__ from mock.py #17977

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = None
closed_at = None
created_at = <Date 2017-10-20.13:21:04.010>
labels = ['3.7', 'type-bug', 'library']
title = 'Misleading __version__ attribute of modules in standard library'
updated_at = <Date 2020-02-04.10:54:36.743>
user = 'https://github.com/abukaj'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2020-02-04.10:54:36.743>
actor = 'cryvate'
assignee = 'none'
closed = False
closed_date = None
closer = None
components = ['Library (Lib)']
creation = <Date 2017-10-20.13:21:04.010>
creator = 'abukaj'
dependencies = []
files = []
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 31826
keywords = ['patch']
message_count = 7.0
messages = ['304654', '304763', '304765', '304779', '304780', '304823', '361340']
nosy_count = 9.0
nosy_names = ['barry', 'rhettinger', 'ncoghlan', 'pitrou', 'eric.araujo', 'petr.viktorin', 'serhiy.storchaka', 'abukaj', 'cryvate']
pr_nums = ['17977']
priority = 'normal'
resolution = None
stage = 'needs patch'
status = 'open'
superseder = None
type = 'behavior'
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue31826'
versions = ['Python 3.7']

Linked PRs

• gh-76007: Deprecate __version__ attribute #138675
• gh-76007: pydoc: Catch DeprecationWarning for stdlib module __version__ attributes #139997
• gh-76007: Deprecate zlib.__version__ attribute #140130
• gh-76007: Deprecate __version__ attribute in imaplib #140299
• gh-76007: Deprecate __version__ attribute in decimal #140302
• gh-76007: remove curses.__version__ doc #141052
• [3.14] gh-76007: remove curses.__version__ doc (GH-141052) #141076
• [3.13] gh-76007: remove curses.__version__ doc (GH-141052) #141077
• gh-76007: Deprecate __version__ attribute in http.server #142658
• gh-76007: Deprecate __version__ attribute in wsgiref.simple_server #142675
• gh-76007: Deprecate __version__ attribute in ctypes #142679
• gh-76007: Deprecate VERSION in xml.etree.ElementTree & version in xml.sax.expatreader & xml.sax.handler #142898
• gh-76007: Deprecate tarfile.version #145326

[abukaj]

Several modules of the standard library (at least re and csv) have __version__ strings.

The string is the same for Python 2.7-3.6:

 >>> import re, csv; print(re.__version__, csv.__version__)
 2.2.1 1.0

while documentation indicates changes in the modules.

Semantic versioning (recommended by PEP-440) suggests that at least minor version should change in such case.

I suspect it to be a "code fossil" which may be removed according to PEP-396.

[rhettinger]

I would support just removing the version attributes for csv and re.

[pitrou]

+1 for removing __version__ on all stdlib modules which are not externally maintained.

[ncoghlan]

+1 from me for dropping these, and noting which modules were affected in the Porting section of the 3.7 What's New (I'd be surprised if anyone was depending on them existing, but it doesn't hurt to mention it, and may help if someone is trying to figure out what changed)

[rhettinger]

Please do leave version in the decimal module where it has a precise meaning, tracking a particular version of the spec that was implemented and tested.

[merwok]

The version in distutils is derived from sys.version and should be left as is too. Thanks!

[encukou]

PR for removing __version__ from mock: #17977

[furkanonder]

@encukou The issue seems to have been resolved. Can we close the issue?

[encukou]

There are still a lot of modules with __version__
IMO, to resolve it properly:

• There should be a test, similar to test___all__, to avoid regressions
• For modules where __version__ has a meaning, that fact should be documented -- either we want users to use it, or there's no point exposing it

Note that nowadays, the proper way to remove an attribute is with a deprecation period using module __getattr__.

[smontanaro]

I just migrated __version__ from _csv.c to csv.py. I was unaware of this discussion. I'm happy to remove it altogether. Can someone explain to me how this trend came about? I was a bit surprised to see it at all w.r.t. the csv module.