I am worried about Python 3

[Steve Holden]

Mike Driscoll wrote:
> On Apr 9, 7:04 am, jmDesktop <needin4mat... at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I am a new Python programmer.  I have always desired to learn Python,
>> but have never had the opportunity.  Recently this has changed, and I
>> have an opportunity to get away from the .NET framework.  I found
>> Django (and other web frameworks) and began my quest to learn.  I
>> started reading Dive Into Python and anything I could find and started
>> participating here in usenet.  Then I had to read this:
>>
>> http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/nde/papers/teachpy3.html
>>
>> I think that every time I start a new technology (to me) it is about
>> to change.  Yes, I know that is the nature of things, but I'm always
>> at the start of "something new."
>>
>> If I continue in Python 2.5.x, am I making a mistake?  Is it really
>> that different?
>>
>> Here is an excerpt that is causing me concern:
>>
>> Two new versions of the language are currently in development: version
>> 2.6, which retains backwards compatibility with previous releases; and
>> version 3.0, which breaks backwards compatibility to the extent that
>> even that simplest of programs, the classic 'Hello, World', will no
>> longer work in its current form.
>>
>> It makes me feel like I am wasting my time and makes it difficult to
>> justify spending time on projects using 2.5.x and using it where I
>> work.
> 
> Just because there's a new version on the horizon that doesn't mean
> you have to upgrade to it. There are plenty of people that still use
> 2.3, such as my web host. I've only just started really using 2.5 this
> year.
> 
And for what it's worth, even after the 2.6/3.0 release (they are both 
due out simultaneously in August, modulo slippage) the python.org site 
will be advising new users to go with 2.6. The 2.X series will continue 
to be supported for some time (years) after the release of 3.0.

regards
  Steve
-- 
Steve Holden        +1 571 484 6266   +1 800 494 3119
Holden Web LLC              http://www.holdenweb.com/