On 01/09/05, Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org> wrote:
And good riddance! The print statement harks back to ABC and even (unvisual) Basic. Out with it!
I disagree strongly. I can't count the number of times I've been p*ssed having to write something like System.out.println("point(" + this.x + "," + this.y +")") in Java. (Strangely though, I don't object to having printf() in C, but I know it doesn't work any other way). This is what I liked about Python, it offered a no-frills way to get the job done (TSOOWTDI and the like). I agree it's mostly used for debugging purposes, to do quick-and dirty calculations, etc. Nothing can beat it. We don't want the language to be pure, we want it to be useful. Isn't "Practicality beats purity" in the Zen of Python? Last time I checked (2.4.1) it was there, and updating Zen isn't in PEP 3000 ;) -1 on removal of print.