Steven Bethard wrote: > > Well, Python 2.4 code will work on Python 2.6 and 2.7 so just because > your code isn't yet compatible with Python 3.0 doesn't mean you should > give up on Python.
Perhaps the most important concern in the context of Python 3.0 is what the term "Python" will come to mean to the different communities using the language. Some people will be maintaining software that needs to be compatible with older releases; these people aren't technologically backwards: they just find that such older releases provide sufficient capabilities for the implementation of their solutions. For such people, "Python" will be the language they've always used, with a gradual accumulation of features, some known quirks, and some relatively minor incompatibility issues over the years. Meanwhile, the risk is that the core developers will only consider Python 3.0 as "Python" and that people doing anything with older releases will be on their own. If the gap is too wide between 2.x and 3.x, any lack of maintenance in the 2.x series will be perceived as an abandonment of "Python" for certain kinds of user, and the result will probably be a loss of confidence in both variants of the language. Although I believe that some of the recent attempts to lower the disruptiveness of Python 3.0 may have helped to maintain "Python" as a single narrow continuum, I think some people overlook how fortunate the relationship between Python's evolution and momentum has been, and how easily such a relationship can be broken. Paul -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
