Merge pull request #241 from graingert/purpose

README.rst

@@ -19,10 +19,14 @@
     :alt: PyPI
     :target: https://pypi.org/project/modernize/
 
-This library is a very thin wrapper around `fissix
-<https://github.com/jreese/fissix>`_, a fork of lib2to3, to utilize it
-to make Python 2 code more modern with the intention of eventually
-porting it over to Python 3.
+Modernize is a Python program that reads Python 2 source code
+and applies a series of fixers to transform it into source code
+that is valid on both Python 3 and Python 2.7.
+
+This allows you to run your test suite on Python 2.7 and Python 3
+so you can gradually port your code to being fully Python 3
+compatible without slowing down development of your Python 2
+project.
 
 The ``python -m modernize`` command works like
 ``python -m fissix``, see `fissix <https://github.com/jreese/fissix>`_.
@@ -38,8 +42,15 @@ dependency on `six <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/six>`_, unless the
 recommended. Some of the fixers output code that is not compatible with
 Python 2.5 or lower.
 
+Once your project is ready to run in production on Python 3 it's
+recommended to drop Python 2.7 support using
+`pyupgrade <https://pypi.org/project/pyupgrade/>`_
+
 **Documentation:** `modernize.readthedocs.io
 <https://modernize.readthedocs.io/>`_.
 
 See the ``LICENSE`` file for the license of ``modernize``.
 Using this tool does not affect licensing of the modernized code.
+
+This library is a very thin wrapper around `fissix
+<https://github.com/jreese/fissix>`_, a fork of lib2to3.

docs/index.rst

@@ -12,21 +12,39 @@ Modernize
 Purpose of the project
 ======================
 
-.. TODO Explain WHY someone would want to have their code be Python 2/3 compatible
-
-This library is a very thin wrapper around ``fissix`` to utilize it
-to make Python 2 code more modern with the intention of eventually
-porting it over to Python 3.
-
-The ``python -m modernize`` command works like `fissix
-<https://github.com/jreese/fissix>`_. Here's how you'd rewrite a
+Modernize is a Python program that reads Python 2 source code
+and applies a series of fixers to transform it into source code
+that is valid on both Python 3 and Python 2.7.
+
+This allows you to run your test suite on Python 2.7 and Python 3
+so you can gradually port your code to being fully Python 3
+compatible without slowing down development of your Python 2
+project.
+
+The ``python -m modernize`` command works like
+``python -m fissix``, see `fissix <https://github.com/jreese/fissix>`_.
+Here's how you'd rewrite a
 single file::
 
     python -m modernize -w example.py
 
-See the ``LICENSE`` file for the license of ``python -m modernize``.
+It does not guarantee, but it attempts to spit out a codebase compatible
+with Python 2.6+ or Python 3. The code that it generates has a runtime
+dependency on `six <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/six>`_, unless the
+``--no-six`` option is used. Version 1.9.0 or later of ``six`` is
+recommended. Some of the fixers output code that is not compatible with
+Python 2.5 or lower.
+
+Once your project is ready to run in production on Python 3 it's
+recommended to drop Python 2.7 support using
+`pyupgrade <https://pypi.org/project/pyupgrade/>`_
+
+See the ``LICENSE`` file for the license of ``modernize``.
 Using this tool does not affect licensing of the modernized code.
 
+This library is a very thin wrapper around `fissix
+<https://github.com/jreese/fissix>`_, a fork of lib2to3.
+
 The `project website`_ can be found on GitHub and the PyPI project name is
 modernize_