[Pythonmac-SIG] Which version to use??

[Christopher Barker]

Rodney Somerstein wrote:
> Hopefully things will start to fall into place for Python 3.x. 
> I see questions on comp.lang.python and elsewhere from people wanting to 
> use Python 3.x as their main development language. I think many people, 
> such as myself, are reluctant to jump into Python right now. My 
> perception is that 2.x has a limited life span.

Limited, yes, but long -- it is the primary version for most users now 
-- it will be maintained for a good while.

> best choice to jump into that right now when the 3.x branch of the 
> language itself is where most work seems to be going on. However, as you 
> noted, many packages aren't trivial to port and that seems to be going 
> very slowly.

Which contradicts your perception -- there are two types of work being done:

  - development of the language itself -- yes, that is the 3.x branch

  - development of third-party packages -- this is moving slowly to 3.x, 

    but every one I'm involved with is making great effort to keep things
    2.x compatible as they develop for 3.x

  - development of applications with python -- still mostly 2.x

The 2 to 3 transition is a much bigger deal for extension packages -- 
ones that cal into the C runtime, than it is for application code.

In short -- fire up 2.6.5, and code away -- I'm quite confident you will 
be supported as you move forward.


> How far away is Python 3 from being the main branch of the language? Are 
> we talking another year? 2? 5?

I'm going to guess about 2 years until it's the first choice for new 
projects, and 5 or more before most projects have ported to it -- and 
that is a totally uneducated guess!

> In part, due to the fact 
> that packaging seems to be trickier for people to figure out with py2app 
> than with py2exe I have gotten that impression.

I've always found py2app to be easier to use, actually.

> The only thing really missing once that is done is 
> a port of a good cross-platform UI library, such as wxWidgets, so that 
> cross-platform apps can be developed easily.

yup -- for me, I think wx will be the last one I rely on to get ported. 
Oh well. It's a big package!

-Chris



-- 
Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
Oceanographer

Emergency Response Division
NOAA/NOS/OR&R            (206) 526-6959   voice
7600 Sand Point Way NE   (206) 526-6329   fax
Seattle, WA  98115       (206) 526-6317   main reception

Chris.Barker at noaa.gov