Retire requirements_devel

[mslw]

There is requirements-devel.txt:

pytest
pytest-cov
coverage
sphinx
sphinx_rtd_theme

but also setup.cfg:

[options.extras_require]
# this matches the name used by -core and what is expected by some CI setups
devel =
    pytest
    pytest-cov
    coverage
    sphinx
    sphinx_rtd_theme
devel-utils =
    pytest-xdist
    scriv

The requirements-devel.txt file is used in appveyor and github workflow:

❱ git grep requirements-devel
.appveyor.yml:  - python -m pip install -r requirements-devel.txt
.github/workflows/docbuild.yml:        pip install -r requirements-devel.txt
.github/workflows/test_crippledfs.yml:        pip install -r requirements-devel.txt
.readthedocs.yaml:    - requirements: requirements-devel.txt
docs/README.md:pip install -r requirements-devel.txt

The only place where it kind of makes a difference is that test_crippledfs currently splits installation of requirements and installation of package into separate steps.

I think requirements-devel.txt feels like legacy, and its usage can be removed in favour of pip install .[devel].

[adswa]

I think requirements-devel.txt feels like legacy, and its usage can be removed in favour of pip install .[devel].

Although I personally use requirements-devel.txt frequently, I don't mind changing to pip install .[devel] (provided documentation helps me remember). I couldn't find anything about requirements-devel.txt files being legacy, though, the pip docs talk about "other requirements files" https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/reference/requirements-file-format/

[mslw]

I couldn't find anything about requirements-devel.txt files being legacy, though, the pip docs talk about "other requirements files" https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/reference/requirements-file-format/

Okay, that was not the right phrasing from my side. I have a feeling, perhaps incorrect, that there is a tendency to move towards declarations in setup.cfg.

I guess the main issue for me is that the information about optional dependencies is now duplicated.

[mih]

A removal of this file would require changing approach in many places.

Duplication of dependencies is a choice made in the template, and is not an implication. See https://github.com/datalad/datalad-next/blob/main/requirements-devel.txt for an example.

[mslw]

Thanks for the comments.

Regarding RTD docs (mentioned in the requirements file linked above), RTD configuration file allows requirements files (like requirements_devel) or extra requirements (like devel or docs). Either way, I agree that it is a choice.

I think the conclusion is that the usage of requirements_devel is a choice that we continue to make, and we keep using the file in CI and doc build.