[Python-Dev] IDLE in the stdlib

[Steven D'Aprano]

On 21/03/13 11:15, Terry Reedy wrote:

> getting back to CP versus IDLE...
>
>  From IDLE:
>>>> print('\x80')
> €
>>>> print('\xc8')
> È
>
> Impressed? You should be. Open Start menu / Python33 / Python (command line) and both of those result (modulo the specific character) in
>    UnicodeEncodeError: 'charmap' codec can't encode character
>    '\xc8' in position 0: character maps to <undefined>


Terry, you have just done something I didn't think was possible: you've changed my personal opinion about IDLE. On the rare, rare occasions where I've had to use Python interactively on Windows, I use the standard python.exe command prompt, which I thought was easier than learning the (to me) quirks of IDLE's UI.

You've just given me a reason to use IDLE.

I also note that in the last few weeks, I've seen at least two instances that I recall of a beginner on the tutor at python.org mailing list being utterly confused by Python's Unicode handling because the Windows command prompt is unable to print Unicode strings.


Thanks Terry.


-- 
Steven