If I learn python 3.0 and code in it, will my code be still compatible with Python 2.6 (or 2.5 too!)?
Remarkably similar to:
If I'm Going to Learn Python, Should I Learn 2.x or Just Jump Into 3.0?
+5
A:
No, 3.x is largely incompatible with 2.x (that was actually a major motivation for doing it). In fact, you probably shouldn't be using 3.0 at all-- it's rather unusable at the moment, and is still mostly intended for library developers to port to it so that it can be usable.
Devin Jeanpierre
2009-02-23 04:46:55
"it's rather unusable" doesn't accurately describe it
fuentesjr
2009-02-23 05:01:59
Alright, let me word it more accurately. It has very few third-party APIs, which are necessary for many tasks, and the API is rapidly-changing. Things that would ordinarily take several subversions are changed in a single bugfix release-- in 3.0.1, cmp() was removed. It's not ready yet.
Devin Jeanpierre
2009-02-23 05:13:15
+1
A:
NO. Python 3 code is backwards incompatible with 2.6. I recommend to begin with 2.6, because your code will be more useful.
Sergei
2009-02-23 04:47:38
+2
A:
Python 2.6 and Python 3.0 are very compatible with each other. There honestly aren't very many differences between the two. At this point, third-party library support is far better for the 2.x series (last I checked, a few libraries I use hadn't been updated from 2.5, but going from 2.5 to 2.6 is just a recompile, but 2.6 to 3.0 for C-level stuff is a real pain).
Just start learning 2.6. The infrastructure is there now, and there's plenty of help for when you finally want to move to 3.x. 2.x is not going away: there will be a 2.7 release at some point, so you're not going to be out of luck if you learn 2.6 now.
kquinn
2009-02-23 05:01:46
How is 2.6 and 3.0 compatible? Do you mean "After running the converter, the resulting code will generally work in 3.0?"Hint: Even the 'print' statement is incompatible.
Arafangion
2009-02-23 06:28:58
A few different language constructs here and there aren't a huge deal if you're learning.
Dana the Sane
2009-02-23 06:40:17
`print x` versus `print(x)` is really the biggest user-visible change! Okay, so strings are full Unicode by default; that's fine, there's a __future__ import for Py3k literals in 2.6. And a few things that are lists in 2.6 are iterators in 3.0. Not earth-shattering differences for a human mind.
kquinn
2009-02-23 08:37:27
+1
A:
It would be easier to use 2.6 right now because most external libraries are not compatible with 3 yet.
jle
2009-02-23 06:14:30