[Python-Dev] Status regarding Old vs. Advanced String Formating

[Steven D'Aprano]

Tshepang Lekhonkhobe wrote:
> On Sat, Feb 25, 2012 at 05:10, Ned Batchelder <ned at nedbatchelder.com> wrote:
>>  Has Python *ever* removed a feature except in X.0 releases?
> 
> I thought this happens all the time, but with deprecations first. Is
> that not the case?

Hardly "all the time". Only when absolutely necessary, the exception being the 
2.x -> 3.x transition which was designed to break backwards compatibility for 
the sake of "cleaning up" the language. And even there, the changes were very 
conservative.

If there is every going to be a similar 3.x -> 4.x transition, and there may 
not be, it will probably be 10 years away.

Python is a lot more mature now, and consequently the costs of breaking 
backwards compatibility is much greater, particularly when it comes to 
language features like % rather than modules. After all, it is easy for Python 
users to take a copy of a depreciated module and keep using it, but it's very 
difficult for them to fork Python if a language feature is removed.




-- 
Steven