New Python 3.0 string formatting - really necessary?

[walterbyrd]

On Dec 20, 5:05 pm, Roy Smith <r... at panix.com>

> He got really hung up on the % syntax.

I guess it's good to know that there is, at least, one person in the
world doesn't like the % formatting. As least the move was not
entirely pointless.

But, you must admit, of all the things people complain about with
Python, the % formatting is probably one of the least common
complaints. Complaints about Python's speed seem much more common.

Yet, 3.0 makes the speed worse, and "fixes" a non-problem.

I can see where the new formatting might be helpful in some cases.
But, I am not sure it's worth the cost.