PEP 236: Back to the __future__

[Andreas Jung]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Karsten Petersen" <wunschname at kapet.de>



> Hello,
> some comments from the lurkers-corner:
>
> I am not too lucky with all those improvements/changes inside the
> language.  In fact I am rather scared.
>
> Let me explain why:
> Since 1997 I am using Python for a lot of my projects, the reasons were
> ease of use, the clearness of the language and its availability and
> compatibility across platform borders.
>
> And well, I still use Python 1.5.2 and am not seeing a reason to
> upgrade.
>
> If I upgrade to 2.0, I will have to recompile all C modules, check
> everything if it still runs and so on.  But what about 2.1 or 2.2?
> Will I have to recompile and/or recheck everything again?
> For me it seems so, and I am not willing to do that.
>
> I want to _use_ Python, its implementation details are something I am
> not really interested in.
>
>
> It is possible to compile C sources that were written in the 80s.

But you can also find C sources that compile only on the system they
were written for.
>
> It is possible to run (more or less simple) Perl programs which are
> several years old.

see above...  I have also seen Perl hacks and so-called programs that were
running under 4.X but no longer under 5.X.

> Will I be able in 2005 to run the code I have written today?
>

I am using Python since 1992 and the canges between the version usually did
not
require any changes (except when we are talking about extension modules in
C/C++).
In general there should be no need to change native Python code.

Although some extension in 2.1 and 2.2 might break existing code. When you
are working
in a production environment with Python you must take care of version
changes (never change a running system).

Andreas