[Python-Dev] Re: Stability and change
Mark J. Nenadov
mark@freelance-developer.com
Sat, 25 May 2002 19:11:00 -0400
On Sunday 07 April 2002 09:38 pm, François Pinard wrote:
> I use Python on a few systems and flavours, and Python versions are not the
> same on all machines. At places, people ask me to limit myself to 1.5.2.
> At home, I have 2.2, but 2.0 is currently the common denominator for the
> set of machines on which I do my own projects (I physically travel between
> sites). For one, I have no real problem aiming 1.5.2 or 2.0 instead of
> 2.2, when projects or teams require it. Despite I much enjoy most of the
> new features, I still have to be careful about various development
> contexts.
I also use 2.0 as the lowest common denominator. Its hard to avoid 1.5.2
(because Red Hat has been shipping with 1.5.x). I can't complain about the
differences in Python versions. For the most part my experience has been
hassle free. PHP version issues have been more troublesome to me than Python
version issues.
> The current pace of change does not look unreasonable to me. I wonder if
> the perception would not improve, if there was a bit more documentation
> or publicity about what users should do about version inter-operability.
> If users understand what they choose, they will less likely feel changes
> as imposed to them. Maybe! :-)
There are some who think preserving familiarity between versions is way more
important than incremental improvement. In my opinion, sticking to that very
idea is a good way to kill and stagnate a language. I believe that maintaing
and improving the language *usually* is more important than maintaining
consistency between versions. That being said, going overboard with changes
isn't good either. I think documenting these changes would be a step in the
right direction.
My two cents.
Good day,
~Mark