Python 3000 deat !? Is true division ever coming ?

Steve Holden steve at holdenweb.com
Sat Feb 18 14:07:24 EST 2006


seb.haase at gmail.com wrote:
> Thank you very much, Magnus !
> This is the answer I had been waiting for:
> 
>>A problem as I see it today, is that this behaviour is
>>not actively encouraged. The tutorial, which is maintained
>>and updated, still describes old style classes, and the
>>old division behaviour.
> 
> 
> My main point was/is:  why is there not more discussion about "true
> division" !!?

You are about three years too late for the discussion. It was debated to 
death when Guido proposed that Python should behave more like 
non-programmers expected it to. Despite some fierce opposition this view 
eventually held sway, and now long-time Pythonistas accept it as the way 
forward.

So basically most people saw your question and probably thought "enough, 
already!".

> Just like the second answer to my posting clearly showed:
> PEOPLE THINK TRUE DIVISION IS "ONLY IN MATLAB"  !!
> 
> As you pointed out: the "true division" part of "Python3000" might be
> one of the "scariest" and should therefore be pointed out already in
> the tutorial !!  (It would look quite ugly to newcomers, though)
> 
> Having said that:  I would vote against EVER introducing true division
> as default - because it will just PISS too many (long time python)
> people OFF. ;-)
> 
I think you underestimate the power of the Python community to adapt to 
change when it's necessary for the long-term benefit of the language.

> Thanks,
> Sebastian Haase
> 
[...]

regards
  Steve
-- 
Steve Holden       +44 150 684 7255  +1 800 494 3119
Holden Web LLC                     www.holdenweb.com
PyCon TX 2006                  www.python.org/pycon/




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