[Baypiggies] Python 3000?

[Ken Seehart]

Keith Dart wrote:
> Aahz wrote the following on 2006-08-11 at 12:13 PDT:
> ===
>   
>> Why do you feel trepidation?
>>     
> ===
>
> 1. Incompatible changes leading to code maintenance issues. 
>   
All other things being equal, it is better not to introduce incompatible 
changes.

One needs to weigh the relative value of improving the language against the
inconvenience of introducing incompatibilities.  IMHO the changes Guido 
intends
for 3000 are significant improvements.  These improvements are free for 
people
writing new applications.  I expect python to continue to grow in 
popularity, so
(as Guido has pointed out in the past) the number of programmers writing new
applications will probably eventually exceed those working with legacy 
2.x code.

Because of the clear delineation between 2.x and 3.x, and the continued 
support
of 2.x, people with legacy code will certainly have the option of simply 
staying in 2.x.

So far I've been very pleased with python's progress.  I really do think 
python
2.5 is better than 1.52, and there are things that I do now that would 
have been
impossible (except perhaps in Turing equivalent sense) in the early 
days.  Getting
from 1.52 to 2.5 involved incompatible changes on occasion, but I don't 
recall
ever losing significant time during an upgrade.
> 2. Less functionality for the "real world" (e.g. signals on posix
> systems). 
>   
Huh?  What is going to happen to posix signals?
> 3. More things like the long/int unification which just cause more work
> for me and provided no benefit.
>   
"If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck".  Cleaning 
up numbers
will make python squeaky clean!  I think it's worth doing, but I also 
like that it is
being saved for 3.0 to appease those of us who don't like incompatible 
changes.
> Is that baseless? 
>   
Not at all.  But you do have a choice of staying in 2.x for as long as 
you like.  I have
a feeling that the amount of continuing support for 2.x will be directly 
proportional to
the degree of incompatibility introduced in 3000.  I probably will only 
use 3000 for
new projects for the first year or so.
> BTW, I apologize for the late response. Between the time I first posted
> this and now I got a new baby girl. ;-)
>   
I imagine that you might find your life with a new baby girl 
incompatible with your life
prior to having a new baby girl.  Certainly you will have to deal with 
extra maintenance
issues.  However, I hope and believe that your life will nevertheless be 
greatly enriched
by the experience.

Congratulations and best wishes!

- Ken Seehart


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