[Numpy-discussion] Created NumPy 1.7.x branch

[Travis Oliphant]

>> 
>> C was famous for bugs due to the lack of function prototypes. This was fixed with C99 and the stricter typing was a great help.
> 
> Bugs are not "due to lack of function prototypes".  Bugs are due to mistakes that programmers make (and I know all about mistakes programmers make).  Function prototypes can help detect some kinds of mistakes which is helpful.   But, this doesn't help the question of how to transition a weakly-typed program or whether or not that is even a useful exercise.
> 
> Oh, come on. Writing correct C code used to be a guru exercise. A friend of mine, a Putnam fellow, was the Weitek guru for drivers. To say bugs are programmer mistakes is information free, the question is how to minimize programmer mistakes. 

Bugs *are* programmer mistakes.   Let's put responsibility where it lies.   Of course, writing languages that help programmers make fewer mistakes (or catch them earlier when they do) are a good thing.    I'm certainly not arguing against that. 

But, I reiterate that just because a better way to write new code under some metric is discovered or understood does not mean that all current code should be re-written to use that style.   That's the only comment I'm making. 

Also, you mention the lessons from Python 2 and Python 3, but I'm not sure we would agree on what those lessons actually were, so I wouldn't rely on that as a way of getting your point across if it matters. 

Best, 

-Travis

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