README's "for ... library from Google" text could be confusing?

Open Beginner friendly
#152 3 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Assessment

Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Newbie friendliness
72/100
Issue type
Documentation
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Quiet
Tech stack
python
Domain
documentation

Research direction

Start with the README headline and the project metadata that supplies the PyPI description, then verify the distinction between python-snappy's Snappy protocol implementation and the native libsnappy library referenced by the links. Update both descriptions and the README's closing explanation so the dependency and reference relationship is unambiguous.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

The python-snappy README and PyPI project description for python-snappy currently say this as their headline:

README:

Python library for the snappy compression library from Google.

PyPI page:

Python bindings for the snappy compression library from Google.

More details about Snappy library: http://google.github.io/snappy

Image

I found this a little confusing when I was trying to figure out python-snappy's dependencies. Especially with the link on the PyPI page going to libsnappy.

python-snappy implements the snappy compression protocol from Google. To me, "the snappy compression library from Google" means the "libsnappy" native/C library Google publishes. (At the google/snappy repo, and packaged as the snappy conda-forge package and libsnappy-* apt packages in Ubuntu etc.). But since https://github.com/intake/python-snappy/pull/130 and python-snappy 0.7.0 or so in Feb 2024, python-snappy uses cramjam instead of libsnappy. (Right?)

Maybe these should say "Python library for the snappy compression protocol from Google" instead? Or "format"? But not "library".

And maybe this thing at the bottom of the README should clarify that it's being used as a reference for the protocol etc., and the implementation library itself is not a dependency or part of python-snappy.

Image
Dominant language
Python
Stars
490
Forks
104
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

More from intake/python-snappy

All issues in intake/python-snappy

Similar issues

More Python issues

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.