[Python-modules-team] pygame and python 3

[Lenard Lindstrom]

Hi Vincent,

On 15-04-29 03:34 AM, Vincent Cheng wrote:
> Hi Lenard,
>
> First off, thanks for all your work on pygame!
>
> On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 9:26 PM, Lenard Lindstrom <len-l at telus.net> wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> Pygame supported python3 since before version 1.9.0 in 2009. All Pygame code
>> is written to work with either Python 2.x or 3.x. So building Pygame for
>> python3 is the same as for python2. Just use "python3 setup.py build"
>> instead of "python setup.py build". Installation is also the same. For
>> Pygame 1.9.2, which I
>> test against Python 2.7 and 3.4 on i386 Linux Mint, python3 support is
>> complete.
>>
>> So if a stable Pygame package already exists for python2, adapting it for
>> python3 should be straight forward. Let me know if some Pygame bug causes
>> problems and I will deal with it promptly.
>>
>> Thanks for the effort in keeping Pygame in Linux.
> Just to confirm, does the latest stable pygame release (1.9.1)
> actually support python3? Because back when I initially prepared
> python3 pygame 1.9.1 packages for Debian a few years back, I recall
> that I was able to build it, but just importing pygame with a python3
> interpreter resulted in an error. 1.9.2pre works great though.
>
> Is there a rough estimate of when 1.9.2 is expected to be released, by
> the way, or is it more along the lines of "it'll be done when it's
> done"? ;)
>
> Regards,
> Vincent
I checked Pygame 1.9.1 with Python 3.4 and see where the problem is. 
Pygame 1.9.1 was built and tested on an earlier Python 3 release. 
Basically, the early effort on Python 3 went towards the language 
upgrade. The C api was slower to follow. So Python 3 is basically a 
moving target for extension module developers. I suppose Pygame 1.9.1 
could be updated for Python 3.4, but is it worth it?

For practical purposes, Pygame 1.9.2 is in the beta stage of testing. I 
see no new features or rewrites happening before the formal release, 
just bug fixes. Basically the delay in release is one of logistics, 
getting a new automated build site for Windows and OS X. But for Linux, 
specifically Linux Mint 17.1 Cinnamon 32-bit (Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS, Trusty 
Tahr), it passes the unit tests. Other than some document editing, I 
think it is as ready as it will ever be for a Linux release. As for the 
date of the formal release, that is up to the project administrator, 
René Dudfield.

Wish I could be more specific,
Lenard