[Python-Dev] Replacement for print in Python 3.0

Sat Sep 3 04:17:15 CEST 2005

 Guido> Is it...
 Guido> - Going from statement to function?
 Guido> - Losing the automatically inserted space?
 Guido> - Having to write more to get a newline appended?
 Guido> - Losing the name 'print'?
You forgot
 - gratuitous breakage?
I realize you're talking about Py3K, so breakage is allowed, but the
advantages of a print function/method over the current print statement don't
seem sufficient to warrant the level of code change (probably simple but
tedious) that will be necessary to convert 2.x to 3.x.
 Guido> Consider this: if Python *didn't* have a print statement, but it
 Guido> had a built-in function with the same functionality (including,
 Guido> say, keyword parameters to suppress the trailing newline or the
 Guido> space between items); would anyone support a proposal to make it
 Guido> a statement instead?
Nope, but there is a large body of code out there that does use print
statements already. Again, I know you're prepared for breakage, but that
doesn't necessarily mean a completely blank sheet of paper.
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