[Python-3000] Please don't kill the % operator...

[Bill Janssen]

>     Alex> The PEP abstract says this proposal will replace the '%' operator,
> 
> I hope this really doesn't happen.  printf-style formatting has a long
> history both in C and Python and is well-understood.  Its few limitations
> are mostly due to the binary nature of the % operator, not to the power or
> flexibility of the format strings themselves.  In contrast, the new format
> "language" seems to have no history (is it based on features in other
> languages?  does anyone know if it will actually be usable in common
> practice?) and at least to the casual observer of recent threads on this
> topic seems extremely baroque.

> String formatting is so common that it doesn't seem to me we should need to
> invent a new, unproven mechanism to do this.

I strongly agree with Skip here.  The current proposal seems to me a
poor solution to a non-problem.

Bill