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I fixed a bug in Python

nedbatchelder.com

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Re: I fixed a bug in Python

#11

Post by ned_batchelder »

memset wrote: post #10

This is great! It's so hard to find bugs in software tools because the conventional wisdom is that "it's never a bug in the compiler." Interesting that you had to create two patches for python 2.x and 3.x. (Frustrating, no?) Seems like you were able to get this submitted and fixed fairly quickly; the Python guys seem like a welcoming group. Has anyone else had experience contributing to this particular project?

I had to make two patches because the testing style has changed slightly between the two, but also, it's guaranteed to apply better if I make them against the tip of each version.

Re: I fixed a bug in Python

#12

Post by idank »

This is slightly off-topic but I always wondered: why are commits in the CPython repo have their username changed from the author of the change to the person who committed it?

Re: I fixed a bug in Python

#13

Post by nmb »

ned_batchelder wrote: post #5
secure wrote: post #2

link bait. actual title: i fixed an obscure bug in the cpython tokenizer.

I apologize for the "link bait." I didn't intend it as such, I was actually making fun of my "accomplishment," having contributed a tiny patch that fixed an obscure problem. I can see how it reads very differently on Hacker News...

meh, forget the haters. congrats on your bugfix, I'd be pretty excited about contributing to CPython, too!

Re: I fixed a bug in Python

#14

Post by JulianWasTaken »

ned_batchelder wrote: post #5
secure wrote: post #2

link bait. actual title: i fixed an obscure bug in the cpython tokenizer.

I apologize for the "link bait." I didn't intend it as such, I was actually making fun of my "accomplishment," having contributed a tiny patch that fixed an obscure problem. I can see how it reads very differently on Hacker News...

FWIW Ned, I had to update my (generally lame) résumé recently and was a bit embarrassed to put CPython on my list of projects that I've contributed to due to the same type of thing: it was a small patch that fixed an obscure issue.

Anyways, I did it anyhow (with the caveat to make me feel better :P) but I felt the same way about the "accomplishment" :). So congrats!

(This is tos9 by the way).

Re: I fixed a bug in Python

#15

Post by scott_s »

ned_batchelder wrote: post #5
secure wrote: post #2

link bait. actual title: i fixed an obscure bug in the cpython tokenizer.

I apologize for the "link bait." I didn't intend it as such, I was actually making fun of my "accomplishment," having contributed a tiny patch that fixed an obscure problem. I can see how it reads very differently on Hacker News...

Worry not, your title is fine.

Re: I fixed a bug in Python

#17

Post by skrebbel »

idank wrote: post #12

This is slightly off-topic but I always wondered: why are commits in the CPython repo have their username changed from the author of the change to the person who committed it?

Completely guessing here, but it might be a tool thing. For example it's roughly what happens when I merge your code with git and then push it to subversion with git-svn.

Re: I fixed a bug in Python

#18

Post by shuzchen »

skrebbel wrote: post #17
idank wrote: post #12

This is slightly off-topic but I always wondered: why are commits in the CPython repo have their username changed from the author of the change to the person who committed it?

Completely guessing here, but it might be a tool thing. For example it's roughly what happens when I merge your code with git and then push it to subversion with git-svn.

What you describe is a probable scenario, but I think the real reason is in the patch process. Contributions in python don't appear to happen pull request style ("here's my repo with my changes, please merge that in"), but rather through submitting patches ("here's a .patch file with my changes, please apply that to tip").

So what happens isn't that someone with write access merges in changes (which, unless tools get in the way, should preserve authorship), but applies the patch - which attributes that code change to the person applying the patch.

Re: I fixed a bug in Python

#19

Post by jstanley »

"I discovered this working on code that grades student submissions at edX"

It sounds to me like the guy who submitted 40k spaces is the one who discovered the bug ;). Congrats on getting your patch accepted though!

Re: I fixed a bug in Python

#20

Post by davvid »

shuzchen wrote: post #18
skrebbel wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Completely guessing here, but it might be a tool thing. For example it's roughly what happens when I merge your code with git and then push it to subversion with git-svn.

What you describe is a probable scenario, but I think the real reason is in the patch process. Contributions in python don't appear to happen pull request style ("here's my repo with my changes, please merge that in"), but rather through submitting patches ("here's a .patch file with my changes, please apply that to tip"). So what happens isn't that someone with write access merges in changes (which, unless tools get…

In git the patch process is the same but the original author is retained. Git stores the author separately from the committer.

Does anyone know if hg has a similar author vs committer distinction? If so, perhaps the tool is displaying committers by default?

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