Re: [pysqlite] PySqlite crazy import

anatoly techtonik wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> Why does sqlite has so crazy import?
> 
> from pysqlite2 import dbapi2 as sqlite3
> 
> It's not pythonic at all. 

"Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler." (Albert Einstein)

> Why not to invent something more intuitive? Like:
> 
> import sqlite3

Use Python 2.5 or higher and you can do exactly this, because a stable 
version of pysqlite is available under this name in the standard library 
of Python 2.5, 2.6, 3.0, ...

> or
> 
> from sqlite import sqlite3

The reason for the naming is that the name "sqlite" is already taken for 
the pysqlite 1 API. This API had so many issues that I decided to make a 
clean cut in 2004 and developed pysqlite 2.0 from scratch.

To not be an asshole for users and package maintainers, I needed a new 
namespace for this. So upon discussion on the pysqlite mailing list 
(then hosted at initd.org, don't have the archives right now, sorry), I 
decided upon a future-proof naming scheme.

Package name: pysqlite{API-VERSION}
Module name:  dbapi{DB-API-VERSION}

If a DB-API 3.0 ever surfaces and pysqlite should ever have a new 
backwards-incompatible API (not likely), there could be a "from 
pysqlite3 import dbapi3" ...

It also allows for developing a proprietary API for pysqlite. 
"pysqlite2.native", "pysqlite2.apsw", all possible ;-)

And btw. it was a conscious decision to name the module in the standard 
library differently. The experiences with the XML package that did not 
do so were quite unpleasant.

-- Gerhard