[lxml-dev] Call for contribution towards lxml 1.3

[Stefan Behnel]

Hi all,

lxml 1.3 is nearing completion. There were some major changes under the hood,
 but the most visible part of the new release is actually the new layout of
the documentation site, which should make it much more accessible. As usual,
the preview is here:

http://codespeak.net/lxml/dev/

Some of you have mentioned their impression that it's hard to help out on lxml
as it's written in Pyrex, not Python. Although the current code looks very
C-ish in many places, this is more of a performance optimisation than a real
requirement. Pyrex actually makes it possible to work on the code in a very
Python-like style, and to make the C-ification a matter of later improvement.
So Python(-like) implementations of new features are definitely welcome. A
non-optimised implementation of an interesting feature is much better than the
lack of this feature would be. So, everyone is invited to get involved in
making the code even better than it is today.

But there is another area where help is appreciated. A very important area in
fact: *documentation*. While there is quite a bit of documentation both on
ElementTree and lxml, there are certainly places where lxml's API and its way
of doing XML are hard to access, especially for new users and those who have a
fixed (should I say: Java-ish?) mindset on XML. If you want to contribute,
helping out in this area is warmly appreciated. Here are a few ideas that
would be truely helpful for lxml's user base.

* I would love to see lxml's own tutorial that gets the main ideas and the
most useful features across without caring too much about ElementTree (which
already has a tutorial).

* Some statistics: what /are/ the most useful features of lxml? What do people
like or use most? What parts of lxml should be more accessible? Which parts
are so well done that people grasp their usage immediately (and should
therefore be promoted as an eye-catcher)?

* We could benefit from a Wiki where users could contribute code examples,
best practices, work-arounds or tool snippets. We should also start linking to
external pages, blogs, presentations on lxml or ElementTree that others might
find interesting.

Obviously, this list is not complete, so if you want to contribute, I hope you
will easily find places to do so.

Please help us in making lxml 1.3 the best release ever - and the most
accessible one!

Have fun,
Stefan