Inconsistency in using cjson vs json

[nirbheek]

Some packages import json whereas others import cjson. Examples:

​sugar-jhbuild uses json:
./scripts/report.py: import json

​browse uses json:
./model.py:import json

etc..

sugar, sugar-toolkit, sugar-datastore use cjson in various places.

The moduleset system deps mention python-cjson, but do NOT mention json-py as a dependency (which is implicit on Ubuntu and Fedora but not on other distros)

[nirbheek]

Changes made to "browse" activity, and ​merge request filed

[nirbheek]

Changes made to "sugar-jhbuild", and ​merge request filed

More will come as I spot them.

[nirbheek]

The "chat" activity was using simple-json instead of cjson. Changes made and ​merge request filed

[marcopg]

Posted a comment on your jhbuild commit. Saying it here just to make sure the gitorious workflow works fine, we never tested comments and merge requests so far.

[nirbheek]

Replying to marcopg:

Posted a comment on your jhbuild commit. Saying it here just to make sure the gitorious workflow works fine, we never tested comments and merge requests so far.

I didn't get an email notification for the comment, and I don't see any place where I can edit the settings for that. I've replied to your comment; do you see an email notification?

[garycmartin]

This is news to me, could someone actually explicitly state the requirement here, is it json, or cjson? Or even better post something to the sugar dev list for activity authors. I'm using json in Moon at the recommendation of Tomeu (OLPC XO dist has both json and cjson). Thanks. --G

[nirbheek]

Replying to garycmartin:

This is news to me, could someone actually explicitly state the requirement here, is it json, or cjson? Or even better post something to the sugar dev list for activity authors. I'm using json in Moon at the recommendation of Tomeu (OLPC XO dist has both json and cjson). Thanks. --G

Here's a roundup of the json-mess in Python:

There's json-py which is installed by default in Ubuntu and Fedora (and hence by extension in the XO dist). This is a pure-python implementation of a module for json processing.

There's python-cjson which is a (very fast) C module for json processing, which is used in sugar, sugar-toolkit, sugar-datastore etc.

There's simple-json which is packaged in Ubuntu and Fedora, but not installed by default. It is worth mentioning that simple-json was merged into Python 3k (similar to how part of pyxml and sqlite3 were added to python 2.6).

The interface for all three are extremely similar:
cjson.decode() == json.read() == simplejson.loads()
cjson.encode() == json.write() == simplejson.dumps()

Now, there are packages which are using these three interchangeably.

I've been ​writing ebuilds for packaging the XO stack on Gentoo, and json-py is *not* packaged on Gentoo. Simply because there are no packages that use it (most packages use simple-json).

It would be excellent (from Gentoo's POV, and otherwise) if everything used *one* of these (especially since the interfaces of all three are very similar). And since cjson is the fastest, most widely used, and is already a system dep, IMO it should be used.

[alsroot]

Replying to nirbheek:

I've been ​writing ebuilds for packaging the XO stack on Gentoo, and json-py is *not* packaged on Gentoo. Simply because there are no packages that use it (most packages use simple-json).

btw there is GentooOnSugar. We could merge our projects, thats a nice idea to have only one sugar overlay for Gentoo :)

[erikos]

nirbheek: I did merge your browse changes - thanks for that!

[garycmartin]

Replying to nirbheek:

Replying to garycmartin:

This is news to me, could someone actually explicitly state the requirement here, is it json, or cjson? Or even better post something to the sugar dev list for activity authors. I'm using json in Moon at the recommendation of Tomeu (OLPC XO dist has both json and cjson). Thanks. --G

Here's a roundup of the json-mess in Python:

Thanks for all the back story, I'll look to move over to cjson (I just have one trivial Activity use to change so far).

[nirbheek]

Replying to nirbheek:

The "chat" activity was using simple-json instead of cjson. Changes made and ​merge request filed

Oops, that's the browse merge request again :)

The chat merge request is at ​http://git.sugarlabs.org/projects/chat/repos/mainline/merge_requests/5

Replying to erikos:

nirbheek: I did merge your browse changes - thanks for that!

Thanks erikos :)

[marcopg]

I suggest to open one ticket for each module, otherwise it's really difficult to track progress.

For sugar-jhbuild, I'd prefer to just change the method invocations instead of doing tricks. Can you update your patch?

[marcopg]

Ignore my last comment. I read the rationale for supporting json and it make sense. So I merged it, thanks!

[tomeu]

Can we close this now?

[nirbheek]

Replying to tomeu:

Can we close this now?

Hmm, I didn't find any other inconsistencies, so closing for now. Will reopen (or file separate bug{s}) if I find anything else. Thanks everyone!