[Python-Dev] Backporting PEP 3127 to trunk

[Steve Holden]

Raymond Hettinger wrote:
> [GvR]
>> . After
>> all we already have lots of places where Python 2.x supports an old
>> and a new way (e.g. string exceptions up to 2.5, classic classes, old
>> and rich comparisons).
> 
> I thought the whole point of 3.0 was a recognition that all that 
> doubling-up was a bad thing and to be rid of it.  Why make the
> situation worse?  ISTM that we need two versions of oct() like
> we need a hole in the head.  Heck, there's potentially a case to be
> made that we don't need oct() at all.  IIRC, unix permissions like
> 0666 were the only use case that surfaced.
> 
> Also, I thought that the only reason you allowed b'' to be an alias for ''
> in 2.6 was that it was the only way 2-to-3 converter would work.
> That same rationale doesn't seem to apply here. I don't really see
> why the necessity of b'' should be seen as opening the flood gates
> to backport everything without regard to whether it makes Py2.6 better.
> 
It certainly doesn't seem to have the same urgency for cases where 2to3 
can unambiguously do the right thing.

regards
  Steve
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