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Brett Cannon - How to make your code Python 2/3...

Brett Cannon - How to make your code Python 2/3 compatible

You know Python 3 is an improvement over Python 2 and you want to use it. Unfortunately you have legacy Python 2 source code that needs to stay compatible. But don't fret! This talk will show you that you can make your code be Python 2/3 source-compatible using various tools to pick up the nitty-gritty work and help modernize your Python code to newer Python 2 practices.

https://us.pycon.org/2015/schedule/presentation/360/

PyCon 2015

April 18, 2015
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  1. This talk is NOT about convincing you to use Python

    3 See my PyCon 2013 talk if you need convincing
  2. You can start TODAY!!! If you only get one thing

    out of this talk, let it be this
  3. References • http://python3porting.com • "What's New" documents for each Python

    release • Porting HOWTO: docs.python. org/3/howto/pyporting.html
  4. Learn to love six • Compatibility library to smooth out

    edges • Supports Python 2.5 - Python 3 • Single module for easy vendoring • https://pypi.python.org/pypi/six
  5. Good test coverage is critical • So you don't accidentally

    break anything when porting • coverage.py is handy ◦ https://pypi.python.org/pypi/coverage
  6. (Basic) new file template # coding: utf-8 from __future__ import

    (absolute_import, division, print_function, unicode_literals)
  7. Modernize • Harnesses 2to3 to update Python 2 code to

    work with Python 2.6 - 3 as much as possible • https://pypi.python.org/pypi/modernize
  8. Futurize • Think Modernize but with more of a Python

    3 feel • Provides backports of things from Python 3 such as the bytes type • Part of future project: https://pypi.python. org/pypi/future
  9. Need to make API decisions about text vs. binary data

    unicode/str in Python 2, str/bytes in Python 3
  10. Mark all your string literals • I recommend b prefix

    + unicode_literals future statement when possible • u and b prefixes also work • In the end you should know exactly what type of data a string literal represents ◦ Tooling will help enforce this
  11. Updating your APIs • If it's to work with text

    … ◦ Make it work with Unicode • If it's to work with binary data … ◦ Watch out for indexing on bytes • Be strict with whether you pass in text or binary data, not just str in Python 2 • Let six help you
  12. Text/bytes method uniqueness str • __mod__ • encode • format

    • isdecimal • isnumeric bytes • decode
  13. Python 3.5 improvements • Bytes interpolation ◦ b'I %s bytes'

    % (b'love',) • -b will warn when comparing bytes to int ◦ Helps with the bytes-indexing issue
  14. What to watch out for • 5 / 2 ◦

    2 in Python 2 ◦ 2.5 in Python 3 • Python 3 semantics in Python 2 ◦ from __future__ import division ◦ -Q flag to interpreter • Not automatic in case you're using something other than built-in types
  15. Pylint • Can warn against some things not allowed or

    changed in Python 3 • use the --py3k flag to run only checks related to Python 3 compatibility
  16. Python flags • -3 ◦ Triggers various warnings for things

    not available in Python 3 ◦ Can use -W to control how severe to make the warnings • -b ◦ To help with common bytes-related issues ◦ Is a no-op in Python 2, so can blindly use
  17. Your code now works in Python 3! Don't forget python2

    -3, python3 -b, and Pylint in your testing/CI
  18. caniusepython3 • Checks your (in)direct dependencies to see who is

    blocking your move to Python 3 • API for test integration • Has extra checkers to work with Pylint • https://caniusepython3.com/ • https://pypi.python.org/pypi/caniusepython3
  19. Use cffi, Cython, or ctypes for extensions There is also

    an official HOWTO on porting hand-written extension code
  20. Continuous integration • Use pylint --py3k to prevent regressions •

    Use Tox to run tests under various Python versions ◦ https://pypi.python.org/pypi/tox
  21. Q&A

  22. Fewer built-ins • apply() • buffer()* • coerce() • cmp()

    • execfile() • file() • raw_input()* • xrange()* • StandardError
  23. Standard library renamings • Fixed some bad names ◦ ConfigParser

    -> configparser • Turned some things into packages ◦ httplib -> http.client ◦ BaseHTTPServer et. al. -> http.server
  24. All of that works in Python 2.6! And you can

    have it in an automated fashion!
  25. Integer division • int / int returns a float •

    int // int does what Python 2 does • Get the semantics in Python 2 ◦ from __future__ import division ◦ -Q new ◦ Been around since Python 2.2
  26. Text and binary data • Python 2 ◦ Text is

    basestring: (str, unicode), essentially ◦ Binary data is str (bytes is an alias in Python 2.6) • Python 3 ◦ Text is str (similar to unicode in Python 2) ◦ Binary data is bytes (sort of similar to str in Python 2) ◦ To see differences, try set(dir(str)). difference(dir(bytes))
  27. All of that is still available in Python 2.6! It

    just takes some effort to have
  28. All of that is in Python 2.7! Everything from now

    on is exclusive to Python 3, I promise
  29. Unicode everywhere • Source code is UTF-8 encoded by default

    • Based on the Unicode standard annex UAX- 31 with some tweaks
  30. __pycache__ • All .pyc and .pyo files are put in

    a __pycache__ subdirectory • All bytecode files are tagged per interpreter to prevent overwriting when using a different Python version
  31. Enhanced exceptions • Chaining connects causal chain of exceptions ◦

    Implicit from simply raising another exception while another is active ◦ Explicit with raise exc2 from exc1 • Traceback now embedded in exception
  32. Stable ABI • Hides interpreter details • Guaranteed not to

    change • Define Py_LIMITED_API and your extension module won't require recompilation per Python version
  33. pip & venv • pip is now installed by default

    • Virtual environments created by venv install pip by default • Plans to have platform installers install pip in a future Python 2.7 release
  34. Performance • decimal implemented in C • Integer math faster

    • More efficient string memory use • Key-sharing dictionaries • Custom memory allocators • Interchangeable hash algorithm
  35. % formatting for bytes • Supported subset of what %

    does for strings • Makes constructing ASCII-based binary data easier • Will help binary-manipulating Python 2 code also work in Python 3