>> My brother in law is learning python. He's downloaded 3.1 for >> Windows, and is having a play. It's already confused him that print >> "hello world" gives a syntax error.... >> >> He's an absolute beginner with no programming experience at all. I >> think he might be following 'Python Programming for the Absolute >> Beginner", or perhaps some online guides. Should I advise him to >> stick with 2.6 for a bit, since most of the material out there will >> be for 2.x? Or since he's learning from scratch, should he jump >> straight to 3.x
good question, and already well-answered by most. i'll chime in with a few remarks too. basically, if he is really starting from scratch, i.e., no preexisting codebase, not using it for work, etc., then there's no harm in starting using 3.x as long as you give the caveat that most tutorials and source out there is still 2.x. 3.x has not gained widespread adoption yet because not all of the lower-level (nor higher-level) libraries, packages, and modules have been ported to 3.x yet. i gave a talk recently about this very topic ( http://siliconvalley-codecamp.com/Sessions.aspx?OnlyOne=true&id=227 ) and will repeat it again at PyCon 2010 in Atlanta ( http://us.pycon.org/2010/conference/talks -- see session #48 ). i get asked this question a lot, esp. when it pertains to my book, "Core Python Programming." which should i learn? is your book obsolete? etc. i basically tell them that even though they are backwards-incompatible, it's not like Python 2 and 3 are sooooo different that you wouldn't recognize the language anymore! as Kris has said, there are just a handful of noticeable difference that you have to just keep in mind. finally, the next edition of the book will definitely be BOTH Python 2 and 3. Python 2 isn't EOL'd and will be around for awhile longer -- the most important evidence of this being that both 2.x and 3.x are being developed in parallel. hope this helps! -- wesley - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Core Python Programming", Prentice Hall, (c)2007,2001 "Python Fundamentals", Prentice Hall, (c)2009 http://corepython.com wesley.j.chun :: wescpy-at-gmail.com python training and technical consulting cyberweb.consulting : silicon valley, ca http://cyberwebconsulting.com _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
