Beginner needs advice

[harrismh777]

Chris Angelico wrote:
> To say that "most" 2.x code is
> incompatible with 3.x is to deny the 2to3 utility,

    Oh, yes absolutely. Please don't misunderstand... anyone... I'm not 
saying that code cannot be migrated... migration can usually occur 
between incompatible releases and and between languages!... all I'm 
saying is that 3.x is not compatible with 2.x code (completely not 
compatible), and if you're a noob there is no reason to learn 2.x/ 
Learn 3.x and pickup whatever needs to be gained from 2.x if it comes 
up... we're talking about learning python as a newbie--- go with 3.x and 
never look back... seriously...


> and you're ignoring
> the people who deliberately write code that can cross-execute on
> either version - which is really not that difficult,


That's what I do... but I'm not a newbie. I have existing code that 
needs to be migrated, and I have an interest in creating research apps 
that will run on existing 2.x systems but will be ready and waiting for 
the time when the system moves to 3.x.  I need to know both 2.6 and 3.2 
very well. And I'll be honest about this, it is very frustrating. There 
are literally hundreds of changes and variations (its all in the 
details).  Many Pythonists are not honest about this... because they 
don't want to scare folks away from 3.x, and I don't really blame them. 
But the true picture is that 3.x is (way better) and completely 
incompatible with 2.x.   Lying about this isn't helpful to anyone coming 
on board with Python. Just tell them the truth...


kind regards,

m harris