[Python-Dev] Re: Stability and change

[Mark J. Nenadov]

On Sunday 07 April 2002 09:38 pm, François Pinard wrote:

> I use Python on a few systems and flavours, and Python versions are not the
> same on all machines.  At places, people ask me to limit myself to 1.5.2.
> At home, I have 2.2, but 2.0 is currently the common denominator for the
> set of machines on which I do my own projects (I physically travel between
> sites).  For one, I have no real problem aiming 1.5.2 or 2.0 instead of
> 2.2, when projects or teams require it.  Despite I much enjoy most of the
> new features, I still have to be careful about various development
> contexts.

I also use 2.0 as the lowest common denominator. Its hard to avoid 1.5.2 
(because Red Hat has been shipping with 1.5.x).  I can't complain about the 
differences in Python versions. For the most part my experience has been 
hassle free. PHP version issues have been more troublesome to me than Python 
version issues.

> The current pace of change does not look unreasonable to me.  I wonder if
> the perception would not improve, if there was a bit more documentation
> or publicity about what users should do about version inter-operability.
> If users understand what they choose, they will less likely feel changes
> as imposed to them.  Maybe! :-)

There are some who think preserving familiarity between versions is way more 
important than incremental improvement. In my opinion, sticking to that very 
idea is a good way to kill and stagnate a language. I believe that maintaing 
and improving the language *usually* is more important than maintaining 
consistency between versions. That being said, going overboard with changes 
isn't good either. I think documenting these changes would be a step in the 
right direction.

My two cents.

Good day,
~Mark