Pep 3105: the end of print?

[Edward K Ream]

> Isn't the very concept of major releases (1.x, 2.x, 3.x) that they *can* 
> be not backwards-compatible with previous releases?

Not at all.  Backwards compatibility means that one can still run old code 
provided  the code eschews new features.  Python releases have generally 
been backwards compatible with previous releases, with a few minor 
exceptions.  For example, my app runs fine on Python 2.2.2 through Python 
2.5, and little work was required to make this happen.  In fact, my app 
should run find on Python 3.x, but that's because it doesn't use print :-)

In other words, the consequence of pep 3105 will be that *nobody* who wants 
their app to be portable will be able to use print until *everybody* has 
converted to Python 3.x.   I doubt that is what Guido had in mind, but I may 
be mistaken :-)

Edward
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Edward K. Ream   email:  edreamleo at charter.net
Leo: http://webpages.charter.net/edreamleo/front.html
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