[arch-general] python3 thoughts

[C Anthony Risinger]

On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 12:46 PM, Auguste Pop <auguste at gmail.com> wrote:
> The transition is indeed smooth, as least for me. I am just worrying
> that maybe most python utilities will remain using python2 for a
> rather long time.
>
> Considering the incompatibility in the fundamental print
> function/statement, I seriously doubt the number of python2 packages
> that can run under python3 without any modification.
>
> Most python programmers are clearly not so interested in the
> bleeding-edge technologies. That's what makes me frustrated as an Arch
> user.

most problems are rather easy to workaround... so i don't know why
there is so much fuss about py3k.  personally, i welcome it;  clean up
basic language constructs, do it all at once, and make everything more
consistent.  consistency is a wonderful thing for a developer.

even the print statement is easy:

print('this is a test')

works correctly in python2 and py3k... only when you add multiple
args, does it break:

print('this is a test', 'so is this')

because in python the comma is the tuple operator, not parentheses.
all you have to do is join you args together before sending to print.
or, just use:

sys.stdout.write()

thought some changes are more difficult, ultimately, it's not that
disruptive imo.  it's clearly the path forward; no use in dragging
feet.

C Anthony