Re: [DISCUSSION] Should we deprecate python-mode.el (alternative to built-in python.el) support in ob-python? (was: [BUG] ob-python: async session evaluation does not support python-mode.el [9.6-pre (release_9.5.5-2661-g2d040b.dirty @ /home/yantar92/.emacs.d/straight/build/org/)])

[Jack Kamm]

Ihor Radchenko <yantar92@posteo.net> writes:

> However, supporting python-mode.el integration is difficult for Org
> team: neither the current ob-python maintainer nor the rest of Org team
> are familiar with python-mode.el.
>
> The bug discussed above already shows that parts of ob-python do not
> work properly with third-party python-mode.el.
>
> Should we deprecate the support altogether and not bother with the extra
> maintenance? Or maybe someone want to volunteer maintaining
> python-mode.el integration?

Thanks for this summary Ihor. In my experience, supporting both
python.el and python-mode.el adds a high maintenance burden to
ob-python. I think it would be better if ob-python could focus on
python.el only, and a separate ob-python-mode created if there is demand
for it.

One cause of the higher maintenance burden, is that a lot of
functionality needs to be implemented twice to support both modes. Or
alternatively, functions need to be written in a way that's agnostic to
the python mode -- but this also adds complexity, as working with comint
directly can be tricky and bug-prone.

Testing is another problem, as there isn't a way to use ob-python with
both python modes in the same emacs config. So a separate emacs setup
has to be maintained to test that python-mode works, which adds more
maintenance headache.

If python-mode support is removed, I'd be willing to help create a new
ob-python-mode package, so that python-mode users can keep using
Babel. However I don't normally use python-mode, so it would be best
if a python-mode user could volunteer to help with this as well.