[Python-Dev] file() or open()?

[Paul Prescod]

Guido van Rossum wrote:

>...
> 
> Maybe you'll change your mind when open() can return other objects
> besides files.  In the mean time, let's use the compatibility
> argument.  Changing things just because a new century has started
> sounds like a fad to me -- IOW the argument "it's the modern thing to
> do" usually doesn't convince me.

I don't understand why they are both builtins. Why provide two bindings 
for the same thing? I always presumed (as others did) that there was a 
new way and an old way maintained for backwards compatibility.

  Paul Prescod