[Edu-sig] The fate of raw_input() in Python 3000

[Brad Miller]

I too will add one more voice to this chorus, in the hope that  
numbers will influence Guido.  The fact that input and raw_input  
existed in Python was one important factor in our decision to move  
our introductory curriculum to Python a couple years ago.   I can  
clearly remember excitedly telling my colleagues:  "Look, you can do  
input with one statement, its easy!"

Its hard to say for sure, but if I had seen that in order to get user  
input I had to import sys and explain to students who are seeing  
their first programming language what sys.stdin was all about.... I  
don't think I would have explored Python much further.

I do not like the solution of staying with a 'golden age' version of  
Python. For beginners its nice that they can just go to  
www.python.org, download one file, run an installation wizard and  
have the latest version on their Windows machines.  Mac users have it  
even easier.  Having to tell them we are using an old version of the  
language just seems wrong.  Much less to tell Mac/Linux users that  
they need to ignore the modern version that comes on their system.

Brad