typed-argument-parser is uninstallable with "tap.py", which uses the same package name

[juliangilbey]

This looks like a really excellent and much-needed package, thank you!

Then I thought: I wonder if it's in Debian? But to my dismay, I discovered that Debian already has tap.py in the archive (in the package python3-tap. Since both tap.py and typed-argument-parser provide the Python package tap, they cannot be simultaneously installed in any environment, and tap.py seems generic enough that one might wish to use both simultaneously.

Unfortunately, I don't have an obvious suggestion for how to resolve this, but I wanted to bring it to your attention.

[juliangilbey]

Actually, there is a possibility: rename the Python module to typed_argument_parser instead of tap. Since it's only used in the import section, the longer name will make almost no difference. Obviously you'd have to bump the version number to 2.0 to do this. (And you can't call it typed_argparse as that name is also taken!)

[swansonk14]

Hi @juliangilbey,

Thank you for bringing up this issue! We realize this is potentially problematic, but in order to preserve backward compatibility, we think it would be best to stick with the current naming. Since tap.py is a relatively small package with a very different purpose, we hope that this will not be an issue for most users.

Best,
Jesse and Kyle

[juliangilbey]

Yes, indeed, but it makes including it in Debian and other Linux distributions hard because of the package conflict. I also just stumbled upon PEP 423: https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0423/#use-a-single-name

Anyway, I would imagine an upgrading path something like the following:

• V 1.8.0 provides two Python modules: tap and typed_argument_parser. All of the functionality is moved to the new module, and tap just re-exports everything from typed_argument_parser with a DeprecationWarning.
• Some time later (maybe a year or so), V 2.0.0 drops the tap module and only provides typed_argument_parser.

Or perhaps these version numbers should be V 2.0.0 and V 2.1.0 instead, so that the DeprecationWarning is only issued on a new major version.

Then packages which depend on typed_argument_parser >=1.0.0,<2.0.0 will be fine.

Best wishes,

Julian

[swansonk14]

Hi @juliangilbey,

We agree that it would be really nice to have a single name that does not conflict with tap.py. However, we think that keeping backwards compatibility and the simplicity of writing from tap import Tap is enough of a reason to keep the current name. Also, other majors projects have multiple names (e.g., scikit-learn and sklearn). We're sorry if this causes you any inconvenience!

Best,
Jesse and Kyle