Remove Thread.isAlive in Python 3.9

[corona10]

BPO	37804
Nosy	@vstinner, @asvetlov, @JelleZijlstra, @corona10
PRs	bpo-37804: Remove the deprecated method threading.Thread.isAlive() #15225 bpo-43723: deprecate camelCase aliases from threading #25174

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = None
closed_at = <Date 2019-08-12.17:42:00.760>
created_at = <Date 2019-08-09.15:34:12.371>
labels = ['library', '3.9']
title = 'Remove Thread.isAlive in Python 3.9'
updated_at = <Date 2021-04-12.08:43:01.529>
user = 'https://github.com/corona10'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2021-04-12.08:43:01.529>
actor = 'vstinner'
assignee = 'none'
closed = True
closed_date = <Date 2019-08-12.17:42:00.760>
closer = 'vstinner'
components = ['Library (Lib)']
creation = <Date 2019-08-09.15:34:12.371>
creator = 'corona10'
dependencies = []
files = []
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 37804
keywords = ['patch']
message_count = 8.0
messages = ['349293', '349455', '349481', '390039', '390045', '390056', '390059', '390827']
nosy_count = 4.0
nosy_names = ['vstinner', 'asvetlov', 'JelleZijlstra', 'corona10']
pr_nums = ['15225', '25174']
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'fixed'
stage = 'resolved'
status = 'closed'
superseder = None
type = None
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue37804'
versions = ['Python 3.9']

[corona10]

As we discussed https://bugs.python.org/issue35283.
Now is the time to remove Thread.isAlive.

If it is okay, I 'd like to work on this issue.

[vstinner]

Calling threading.isAlive() starts to emit a DeprecationWarning in Python 3.8. I'm ok to remove the alias in Python 3.9.

[vstinner]

New changeset 44046fe by Victor Stinner (Dong-hee Na) in branch 'master':
bpo-37804: Remove the deprecated method threading.Thread.isAlive() (GH-15225)
44046fe

[JelleZijlstra]

The threading documentation for 3.9 still claims "While they are not listed below, the camelCase names used for some methods and functions in this module in the Python 2.x series are still supported by this module." It would be better to mention when isAlive was removed.

The method is still used in some major libraries, like NLTK (https://github.com/nltk/nltk/blob/637af5380d6071517a5f0d224649e5c3560b5f91/nltk/inference/api.py#L536). Documenting the removal clearly in the threading docs would make it easier for developers to upgrade.

[vstinner]

The threading documentation for 3.9 still claims "While they are not listed below, the camelCase names used for some methods and functions in this module in the Python 2.x series are still supported by this module." It would be better to mention when isAlive was removed.

Do you want to propose a PR for that?

I see still 4 camelCase methods in threading.Thread:

• 'getName' => Thread.name can be get
• 'setName' => Thread.name can be set
• 'isDaemon' => Thread.name can be get
• 'setDaemon' => Thread.daemon can be set

[JelleZijlstra]

Sure, I can submit a PR. While we're at it, we should probably also deprecate the setter/getter methods that you mention.

Here's what I propose doing:

• On 3.10 (or 3.11 if it's too late for 3.10), make getName and friends throw a DeprecationWarning, scheduling them for removal in 3.12 or 3.13
• On 3.8 and lower, update the docs to explicitly call out the names of the deprecated methods
• On 3.9 and higher, update the docs similarly but mention that threading.isAlive was already removed

If there's no objection, I'll open separate issues and PRs for these in a few days.

[vstinner]

we should probably also deprecate the setter/getter methods that you mention

You can deprecate them. Please open a new issue for that, this one is closed and specific to Thread.isAlive.

[vstinner]

New changeset 9825bdf by Jelle Zijlstra in branch 'master':
bpo-43723: Deprecate camelCase aliases from threading (GH-25174)
9825bdf