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0 pointsraverbashing11y ago0 comments

" why bother learning Python 3?"

Unicode

And of course, you'll move from a platform that's shutting down to one that's evolving

Really, it's worth it.

0 comments

Python 3 really is a superior language. It took all of the good parts from 2, and left the cruft behind. The downside is that there were so many good parts of 2, and so little cruft, that 3 isn't all that much different. However, it's different enough to break things.

goostavos11y ago

Not to mention `yield from`, which is awesome. Iterators everywhere is a powerful tool.

the_mitsuhiko11y ago

Unicode works perfectly fine on 2.x.

pekk11y ago

The 2.x API is incredibly and almost unusably confusing to someone who hasn't already puzzled out the right ways to use it from the many wrong ways that are easier to find.

But that's OK, because 2.7 is exactly for the people who have to maintain old 2.x projects and people who never want Python to change again (and will just move to Rust or something soon anyway, instead of learning and using features in Python 3).

adamors11y ago

It's hardly shutting down if the support will last another 6 years ...

ubernostrum11y ago

Well, if you were and are staying on Python 2.7, you are committing to anywhere from 6 (if you start now) to 10 (if you started day of 2.7.0 release) years of a frozen, non-evolving language. No new features, no improvements, nothing -- just the same language, for a decade.

If you can live with that, then by all means stick to 2.7 until your Red Hat support contract expires. If not, consider switching to 3.x.

calroc11y ago

    No new features, no improvements, nothing -- just the same language, for a decade.

Am I alone in being excited by this? I am figuratively drooling over such stability.

2 more replies

raverbashingOP11y ago

If you prefer to work with a platform that will get only bugfixes/security updates go ahead

Potentially no new libraries (for new things and/or API connections)

Not sure how long new versions of existing libraries will keep 2.7 support.

BuckRogers11y ago

No new libraries? I wonder if 2014's new Python implementation from Guido's employer Dropbox- Pyston, count as significant in your mind?

If you prefer to have no Google App Engine, Azure, Amazon or distro support other than Arch, then have at it. I'll keep that and PyPy, Pyston, Jython, IronPython, PyInstaller, not to mention all programs where Python is integrated like GIMP, all of this is Python2 only.

Enjoy your Python3. I'll stick with Python.

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