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Thu Sep 1 22:30:14 CEST 2005 · http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2005-September/055994.html

I don't use "print" myself much, but for the occasional 3-line script.
But I think the user-friendliness of it is a good point, and makes up
for the weirdness of it all.  There's something nice about being able
to write

  print "the answer is", 3*4+10

which is one of the reasons ABC and BASIC have it that way.

> Another real problem with print is that, while the automatic insertion
> of spaces is nice for beginners, it often gets in the way

I agree; why not just drop that feature for Python 3.0?

> It looks to me like most arguments for keeping print are motivated by
> backwards compatibility (in its many guises, like the existence of 15
> years of tutorials) and not by what would be best if we were to design
> a language from scratch.

Well, heck, if we were designing a language from scratch, would we
start with Python?  I rather liked SchemeXerox.

This is Python 3.0, after all, not BizarroLang 1.0.  IMO the novice
usability of it, combined with the existence of other alteratives for
experienced programmers, combined with a tip of the hat to Python's
noble history (what you refer to as "backwards compatibility"), keeps
it in.

Bill

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[Python-Dev] Replacement for print in Python 3.0