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Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 00:50:15 +1100
Subject: Re: Time we switched to unicode? (was Explanation of this Python language feature?)
From: Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com>
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On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 12:07 AM, Rustom Mody <rustompmody@gmail.com> wrote:
> What you are answering (2) is somewhat different from what Anton is asking (1).
>
> 1. Use a tool (2to3 inspired) to help move programs to the the new lexicon
> 2. Use 2to3 to (help) write code that is backward-compatible
>
> It is an invariable given that when heavily compatible code is desired, the
> programmer gets the worst of all worlds

That is true. But writing cross-compatible code IS important, and that
means that backward compatibility is still important, and that
breaking it is a cost - which was my original point. Other
non-backward-compatible changes at 3.0 are not justification to
arbitrarily change the meanings of syntactic elements. Don't forget,
even if you're not writing a single file that gets executed unmodified
on two versions, you still have to worry about your brain changing
gear.

ChrisA