\section{New and Improved Modules}
As usual, Python's standard modules had a number of enhancements and
-bug fixes. Here's a partial list; consult the \file{Misc/NEWS} file
-in the source tree, or the CVS logs, for a more complete list.
+bug fixes. Here's a partial list of the most notable changes, sorted
+alphabetically by module name. Consult the
+\file{Misc/NEWS} file in the source tree for a more
+complete list of changes, or look through the CVS logs for all the
+details.
\begin{itemize}
-\item The new \module{textwrap} module contains functions for wrapping
-strings containing paragraphs of text. The \function{wrap(\var{text},
-\var{width})} function takes a string and returns a list containing
-the text split into lines of no more than the chosen width. The
-\function{fill(\var{text}, \var{width})} function returns a single
-string, reformatted to fit into lines no longer than the chosen width.
-(As you can guess, \function{fill()} is built on top of
-\function{wrap()}. For example:
+\item The \module{array} module now supports arrays of Unicode
+characters using the \samp{u} format character. Arrays also now
+support using the \code{+=} assignment operator to add another array's
+contents, and the \code{*=} assignment operator to repeat an array.
+(Contributed by Jason Orendorff.)
+
+\item The Distutils \class{Extension} class now supports
+an extra constructor argument named \samp{depends} for listing
+additional source files that an extension depends on. This lets
+Distutils recompile the module if any of the dependency files are
+modified. For example, if \samp{sampmodule.c} includes the header
+file \file{sample.h}, you would create the \class{Extension} object like
+this:
\begin{verbatim}
->>> import textwrap
->>> paragraph = "Not a whit, we defy augury: ... more text ..."
->>> textwrap.wrap(paragraph, 60)
-["Not a whit, we defy augury: there's a special providence in",
- "the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it",
- ...]
->>> print textwrap.fill(paragraph, 35)
-Not a whit, we defy augury: there's
-a special providence in the fall of
-a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not
-to come; if it be not to come, it
-will be now; if it be not now, yet
-it will come: the readiness is all.
->>>
+ext = Extension("samp",
+ sources=["sampmodule.c"],
+ depends=["sample.h"])
\end{verbatim}
-The module also contains a \class{TextWrapper} class that actually
-implements the text wrapping strategy. Both the
-\class{TextWrapper} class and the \function{wrap()} and
-\function{fill()} functions support a number of additional keyword
-arguments for fine-tuning the formatting; consult the module's
-documentation for details.
-% XXX add a link to the module docs?
-(Contributed by Greg Ward.)
-
-\item Two new functions in the \module{math} module,
-\function{degrees(\var{rads})} and \function{radians(\var{degs})},
-convert between radians and degrees. Other functions in the
-\module{math} module such as
-\function{math.sin()} and \function{math.cos()} have always required
-input values measured in radians. (Contributed by Raymond Hettinger.)
-
-\item Three new functions, \function{getpgid()}, \function{killpg()},
-and \function{mknod()}, were added to the \module{posix} module that
-underlies the \module{os} module. (Contributed by Gustavo Niemeyer
-and Geert Jansen.)
-
-\item The \module{socket} module now supports timeouts. You
-can call the \method{settimeout(\var{t})} method on a socket object to
-set a timeout of \var{t} seconds. Subsequent socket operations that
-take longer than \var{t} seconds to complete will abort and raise a
-\exception{socket.error} exception.
+Modifying \file{sample.h} would then cause the module to be recompiled.
+(Contributed by Jeremy Hylton.)
-(The original timeout implementation was by Tim O'Malley. Michael
-Gilfix integrated it into the Python \module{socket} module, after the
-patch had undergone a lengthy review. After it was checked in, Guido
-van~Rossum rewrote parts of it. This is a good example of the free
-software development process.)
+\item Two new binary packagers were added to the Distutils.
+\code{bdist_pkgtool} builds \file{.pkg} files to use with Solaris
+\program{pkgtool}, and \code{bdist_sdux} builds \program{swinstall}
+packages for use on HP-UX.
+An abstract binary packager class,
+\module{distutils.command.bdist_packager}, was added; this may make it
+easier to write binary packaging commands. (Contributed by Mark
+Alexander.)
\item The \module{getopt} module gained a new function,
\function{gnu_getopt()}, that supports the same arguments as the existing
(Contributed by Peter \AA{strand}.)
-\item Two new binary packagers were added to the Distutils.
-\code{bdist_pkgtool} builds \file{.pkg} files to use with Solaris
-\program{pkgtool}, and \code{bdist_sdux} builds \program{swinstall}
-packages for use on HP-UX.
-An abstract binary packager class,
-\module{distutils.command.bdist_packager}, was added; this may make it
-easier to write binary packaging commands. (Contributed by Mark
-Alexander.)
-
-\item The Distutils \class{Extension} class now supports
-an extra constructor argument named \samp{depends} for listing
-additional source files that an extension depends on. This lets
-Distutils recompile the module if any of the dependency files are
-modified. For example, if \samp{sampmodule.c} includes the header
-file \file{sample.h}, you would create the \class{Extension} object like
-this:
-
-\begin{verbatim}
-ext = Extension("samp",
- sources=["sampmodule.c"],
- depends=["sample.h"])
-\end{verbatim}
-
-Modifying \file{sample.h} would then cause the module to be recompiled.
-(Contributed by Jeremy Hylton.)
-
-\item The \module{array} module now supports arrays of Unicode
-characters using the \samp{u} format character. Arrays also now
-support using the \code{+=} assignment operator to add another array's
-contents, and the \code{*=} assignment operator to repeat an array.
-(Contributed by Jason Orendorff.)
-
\item The \module{grp}, \module{pwd}, and \module{resource} modules
now return enhanced tuples:
('amk', 500)
\end{verbatim}
+
+\item Two new functions in the \module{math} module,
+\function{degrees(\var{rads})} and \function{radians(\var{degs})},
+convert between radians and degrees. Other functions in the
+\module{math} module such as
+\function{math.sin()} and \function{math.cos()} have always required
+input values measured in radians. (Contributed by Raymond Hettinger.)
+
+\item Three new functions, \function{getpgid()}, \function{killpg()},
+and \function{mknod()}, were added to the \module{posix} module that
+underlies the \module{os} module. (Contributed by Gustavo Niemeyer
+and Geert Jansen.)
+
+\item The parser objects provided by the \module{pyexpat} module
+can now optionally buffer character data, resulting in fewer calls to
+your character data handler and therefore faster performance. Setting
+the parser object's \member{buffer_text} attribute to \constant{True}
+will enable buffering.
+
\item The \module{readline} module also gained a number of new
functions: \function{get_history_item()},
\function{get_current_history_length()}, and \function{redisplay()}.
by the platform. These functions make it possible to avoid some previously
unavoidable race conditions.
+\item The \module{socket} module now supports timeouts. You
+can call the \method{settimeout(\var{t})} method on a socket object to
+set a timeout of \var{t} seconds. Subsequent socket operations that
+take longer than \var{t} seconds to complete will abort and raise a
+\exception{socket.error} exception.
+
+The original timeout implementation was by Tim O'Malley. Michael
+Gilfix integrated it into the Python \module{socket} module, after the
+patch had undergone a lengthy review. After it was checked in, Guido
+van~Rossum rewrote parts of it. This is a good example of the free
+software development process in action.
+
+\item The new \module{textwrap} module contains functions for wrapping
+strings containing paragraphs of text. The \function{wrap(\var{text},
+\var{width})} function takes a string and returns a list containing
+the text split into lines of no more than the chosen width. The
+\function{fill(\var{text}, \var{width})} function returns a single
+string, reformatted to fit into lines no longer than the chosen width.
+(As you can guess, \function{fill()} is built on top of
+\function{wrap()}. For example:
+
+\begin{verbatim}
+>>> import textwrap
+>>> paragraph = "Not a whit, we defy augury: ... more text ..."
+>>> textwrap.wrap(paragraph, 60)
+["Not a whit, we defy augury: there's a special providence in",
+ "the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it",
+ ...]
+>>> print textwrap.fill(paragraph, 35)
+Not a whit, we defy augury: there's
+a special providence in the fall of
+a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not
+to come; if it be not to come, it
+will be now; if it be not now, yet
+it will come: the readiness is all.
+>>>
+\end{verbatim}
+
+The module also contains a \class{TextWrapper} class that actually
+implements the text wrapping strategy. Both the
+\class{TextWrapper} class and the \function{wrap()} and
+\function{fill()} functions support a number of additional keyword
+arguments for fine-tuning the formatting; consult the module's
+documentation for details.
+% XXX add a link to the module docs?
+(Contributed by Greg Ward.)
+
\item The DOM implementation
in \module{xml.dom.minidom} can now generate XML output in a
particular encoding, by specifying an optional encoding argument to
the \method{toxml()} and \method{toprettyxml()} methods of DOM nodes.
-\item The parser objects provided by the \module{pyexpat} module
-can now optionally buffer character data, resulting in fewer calls to
-your character data handler and therefore faster performance. Setting
-the parser object's \member{buffer_text} attribute to \constant{True}
-will enable buffering.
-
\end{itemize}
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