gh-104773: PEP 594: Remove the aifc module

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• Issue: PEP 594: Remove stdlib modules scheduled for deletion in Python 3.13 #104773

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📚 Documentation preview 📚: https://cpython-previews--104933.org.readthedocs.build/

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Please see the PEP 594 section about aifc:

A user disclosed that the post production film industry makes heavy use of the AIFC file format. The usage of the aifc module in closed source and internal software was unknown prior to the first posting of this PEP. This may be a compelling argument to keep the aifc module in the standard library. The file format is stable and the module does not require much maintenance. The strategic benefits for Python may outmatch the burden.

PEP 594 got accepted, so I understood that the Steering Council took these arguments in account and is fine with removing the aifc module from the Python stdlib.

test_aifc uses the audioop module which prevents the removal of the audioop module. If we want to keep the aifc module but remove audioop ,test_aifc should be rewritten without audioop.

[hugovk]

Can we remove these test files as well?

./Lib/test/audiodata/pluck-ulaw.aifc
./Lib/test/audiodata/pluck-alaw.aifc
./Lib/test/Sine-1000Hz-300ms.aif

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Someone else wrote a less complete PR: PR #104927.

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Can we remove these test files as well?

Right. I remove these test files and a few more.

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With this change, test_wave becomes the last user of Lib/test/audiotests.py. I don't think that it's worth it to move the code into Lib/test/test_wave.py. I prefer to leave it as it is for now.

The two remaining AIFC test files are used by test_email:

Lib/test/test_email/data/sndhdr.aifc
Lib/test/test_email/data/sndhdr.aiff

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The chunk module is related to AIFF: I wrote PR #104868 to remove it.

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I added a What's New in Python 3.13 and Changelog entry.

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A user disclosed that the post production film industry makes heavy use of the AIFC file format.

The VFX platform still uses Python 3.10 in 2023 ("CY2023"): https://vfxplatform.com/ Python will be upgraded to Python 3.11 next year ("CY2024 DRAFT").

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See also issue #105096: wave: Deprecate getmark(), setmark() and getmarkers() methods.