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I find it sad that they won't make any changes to python that break backwards compatibility from now till 2023 or beyond. I mean, I'm all for maintaining backwa

I find it sad that they won't make any changes to python that break backwards compatibility from now till 2023 or beyond. I mean, I'm all for maintaining backwards compatibility but if a language wants to evolve it has to be willing to make major changes, no language, especially one as featured as python, is at the point where they should stop making large changes and focus on perfecting and improving it. A language should never say its just going to "improve" from here on out. Its fine to have a stable stream that focuses on that but you need to be willing to take risks some times. At least that's my 2 cents, but what do I know. (To clarify: I don't think a huge split should happen as it did previously from 2 to 3 but I do think that there should be a dev stream for implementing major new features)

dmayle 12y ago
Just to be clear, they aren't talking about disallowing changes that are backwards incompatible. For example, they could introduce a new 'foo' keyword that won't work on previous versions. What they are saying is that they won't introduce changes that break the way already existing code works, like they did by changing the underlying behavior of existing types. I think this is a reasonable compromise that allows for software developers to get access to new features, while at the same time refactoring their code once migrated to a new runtime.
- frowaway001 12y ago
  So Python is becoming the new C++ in terms of cruft? "We can't change A, so let's add B which does A, but better" ... a version later ... "well, B didn't work out either, here is C".