minor code cleanup
minor code cleanups
remove some unnecessary C-isms
streamline el.attrib access a little
clean up some code
clean up some code
safety fix
clean up some code
clean up some code
fix return value in corner case of some iteration methods
clean up some code
minor code simplification
support dict as argument to pass attributes into objectify.ElementMaker
avoid excessive list reallocation in the rotating error log
restrict '_first_error' in log to actual errors to prevent warnings from appearing in exception messages

--HG--
extra : amend_source : c974b30c88cf70fe9cf56237b99dafb62e497013
speed up error reporting by avoiding to decode the error message before we know we actually need it (most warnings/errors will never be looked at)