Python 2.7 released

[Tim Golden]

On 08/07/2010 03:17, imageguy wrote:
>
>> I, too, have multiple versions installed -- newer ones for running code
>> I haven't upgraded; older ones for compatibility testing where needed.
>> I just install to the default c:\pythonxy directories (although I like
>> the idea of a common root) and I put NTFS hardlinks into my general
>> c:\tools directory which is on the path. The out-of-context hardlinks
>> work because of the registry settings which pick up the correct context
>> for each version.
>
> Sorry to be daft here, but what do you mean by a "hardlink" ?
> A windows "Shortcut" ?
>
> I have just installed 2.7 and want to start upgrading some code, but
> alas still want to maintain some 2.5 code too.

Hardlinks have always been present on NTFS, just not very widely advertised.
They are a way of saying that *this* file and *that* file are actually the
*same* file. (They must be on the same volume as they underlying 
implementation
relies on pointing to the volume's master index -- the MFT).

They're not copies: if one changes, the other changes.
They're not shortcuts, which are a Shell (ie Desktop) mechanism, not a 
filesystem one

I have hardlinks called python26.exe, python31.exe, etc. which point to
c:\python26\python.exe, c:\python31\python.exe etc. and also
a python3.exe which is another link to c:\python31\python.exe but which will
move when python 3.2 is released.

However, this is simply a convenience I use. It's perfectly possible to have
and to use several versions of Python concurrently without this. How you do
it depends on your working practice: whether you use an IDE or 
double-click on
.py files or run from a cmd window, etc.

TJG