Trying to choose between python and java

[sjdevnull at yahoo.com]

On May 15, 5:16 pm, Bruno Desthuilliers
<bdesth.quelquech... at free.quelquepart.fr> wrote:
> Beliavsky a écrit :
>
>
>
> > On May 15, 1:30 am, Anthony Irwin <nos... at noemailhere.nowhere> wrote:
>
> > <snip>
>
> >>#5 someone said that they used to use python but stopped because the
> >>language changed or made stuff depreciated (I can fully remember
> >>which) and old code stopped working. Is code written today likely to
> >>still work in 5+ years or do they depreciate stuff and you have to update?
>
> > Because Python 3 will change the syntax of print to disallow
>
> > print "Hello, world."
>
> > a substantial fraction of Python programs in existence, including all
> > of my programs, will be broken. Draw your own conclusions.
>
> The fact that Py3K will be a "big cleanup" release is not new - it has
> been clear for some years now that this would be the first release that
> would break compatibility.

Eliminating core libraries breaks compatibility.  Getting rid of regex
was very traumatic, and I still find myself occasionally patching up
code because of that change.  To be fair, regex was deprecated for
many versions before it was dropped (and warned loudly of the coming
change), and Java's been notably worse at maintaining backward
compatibility.  But saying it's the first release that breaks
compatibility isn't true unless you have a very limited definition of
compatibility.

> Still GvR and the team seem to be making
> their best to not avoid as much breakage as possible, clearly document
> what will break, and if possible provide tools to ease migration.

Absolutely.