[Numpy-discussion] Branching 1.1.x and starting 1.2.x development

[David Cournapeau]

Pearu Peterson wrote:
>
> Since you asked, I have a problem with the rule 7 when applying
> it to packages like numpy.distutils and numpy.f2py, for instance.
>   

Although Jarrod did not mention it, I think everybody agrees that 
distutils is not really testable, by its nature and design. But that's 
even more a reason to be careful when changing it just before a release.

I don't see why f2py would not be testable by nature, though. A big part 
of it is parsing fortran, right ?

> Often, the required fix
> is trivial to find and apply, also just reading the code one can
> easily verify that the patch does not break anything.

IMHO, the most useful aspect of unit tests is not testing that the fix 
works, but being sure that if it breaks again, it will be detected 
(regression test). This is specially important when refactoring.

David