v6 Breaking Changes

[kclowes]

Now that v5 stable is out, it's time to start collecting a list of breaking changes that we might like to see in v6. I'll update this issue as they come up.

Outstanding breaking tasks:

• Python 3.11 Support - Python 3.11 Support #2699
• Remove Infura auto provider logic from within web3 and make a template for new auto providers to use. See issue Autoprovider repo template #1736 (Remove auto provider except for local geth dev #2706)
• Remove SolidityError in favor of the more generic ContractLogicError. See issue Remove SolidityError #1901
• Remove camelCase function names in favor of snake_case. See Snake case remaining main API methods and properties #2598
• Remove Parity module (via Remove parity namespace and refs #2718)
• Remove version module (see Remove version module #2729)
• Make ipfshttpclient opt-in. (See Make ipfshhtpclient an optional library / backend for ethpm #2730 which closes ipfshttpclient is unmaintained #2629)
• Remove start_rpc and stop_rpc from geth.admin module (see Remove deprecated start_rpc and stop_rpc from w3.geth.admin module #2731)
• Standardize apply_formatter_to_array functions. See Standardize apply_formatter_to_array  #1902
• Custom web3py exceptions inherit from Web3Exception. See Add Web3Exception to all exception classes #1478
• Enable strict bytes length checking by default. See issue Flag for Stricter ABI Type Checking #1419 and soliditySha parameter encoding issue #1154.
• Don't allow users to pass bytestrings to contract functions if the bytestring is the wrong length. As it stands, if a bytestring is shorter than the required length, we pad it. If it is longer, we throw an error. See issue Enable strict byte length checking by default #1903.
• Raise specific web3 error rather than ValueError when method isn't available on the node: Raise custom exception instead of ValueError when a method is unavailable at the node #2448
• Standardize default value for block_identifier in eth.call and ContractFunctions.call. Change made in contract.call() block_identifier default change #2335 already, just needs tests.
• Opt in or out of dict to AttributeDict conversion via middleware choice. See Typing of AttributeDict return values is broken #1656.
• Rich tuple decoder Add rich tuple decoder #1353
• Clean up Async typing

shouldn't be breaking:

• Clean up AsyncHTTPProvider instantiation. - See Clean up AsyncHTTPProvider instantiation #2736
• Rearrange web3/eth.py into separate file. See Organize eth module as separate files #2753
• Remove dependency upper limits - Remove dep upper pins #2648
• Rearrange contract.py into separate files. See reorganized contract #2567
• v6 Migration Guide

[kclowes]

All custom web3 exceptions should inherit from Web3Exception. See #1478

[kclowes]

The eth-utils and web3 apply_formatter_to_array functions are slightly different. We should standardize on one or the other (probably the eth-utils version). The apply_formatter_to_array function in web3 converts the return value to an array and the eth-utils version does not. See issue #1902

[carver]

Looks like the #1419 plan is to enable strict bytes length checking by default. At which point I think #1154 could be closed.

[kclowes]

Remove Infura auto provider logic from within web3 and make a template for new auto providers to use. See issue #1736

[wolovim]

Whisper is officially out of Geth distros (latest release notes), so we probably ought to drop support too.

Not necessary to wait for v6. Support removed in #1791.

[wolovim]

v6 is a probably a good time to reflect on some client namespace topics, given:

• Parity is now OpenEthereum (and has been for a while)
• Both Parity and OE clients are in the wild
• Soon™, OE is set to diverge significantly from Parity, see: recent blog post
• Other clients on the sidelines: Nethermind, Trinity, Turbo-Geth, ...?
• Desire to encourage client diversity (related issue: Client diversity and Web3.py #1694)

[kclowes]

The SolidityError that was introduced in #1585 should be more generic since more than one language has an assert/revert feature and we want to support more than just Solidity. See #1901

[kclowes]

Drop python 3.6 support. Python 3.6 will no longer be supported after 12/23/21. See: https://endoflife.date/python

[kclowes]

Remove camelCase methods in eth and geth modules. Consider making buildTransaction -> build_transaction, estimateGas -> estimate_gas

[kclowes]

Move websockets dependency to 10.0+ which means we can get rid of loop argument deprecation warnings. Dependent on dropping python 3.6

[kclowes]

Standardize default value for block_identifier in eth.call and ContractFunctions.call. Change made in #2335 already, just needs tests.

[kclowes]

Add black