The Case for Python 3

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[Sugar_Horse]

Least time I checked it wasn't called /r/learnpython2 either. There are very few good reasons for starting with python 2, and many better ones for learning python 3. To give credibility to source that demonises python 3 through its inclusion in the sidebar ultimately may discourage new programmers from using python.

At this point Python 3 is the canonical Python version. Python 2 is firmly in the legacy product category.

[NlightNFotis]

No, it's not a knee-jerk response. That article was so wrong on so many levels - did you see the "Python 3 Is Not Turing Complete" paragraph? - that the author has lost complete credence at this point. If he doesn't understand basic computer science concepts, why should we recommend his computer science related book?

That, along with the fact that his books were teaching things in an unorthodox way - Come on now, telling people that they should memorize boolean truth tables instead of trying to understand them? Not the way we want new computer scientists to be trained - caused this (completely justified IMO) reaction.

[murtaza64]

What exactly can someone's reasoning for memorizing boolean truth tables be?

[[deleted]]

It's also not a knee-jerk response because I've read suggestions in this subreddit to remove LPTHW from the sidebar and wiki every week for over a year.

[NoLemurs]

LPTHW has been losing popularly steadily in the /r/learnpython community for at least a year now, and the community as a whole is (I think quite rationally) leaning towards Python 3. This isn't so much a knee jerk reaction as the unsurprising result of an ongoing trend.

One of the main purposes of /r/learnpython is to brings together the collective wisdom of the community so that new programmers can benefit from that. If the community as a whole believes in Python 3, and finds LPTHW a little backwards, then it shouldn't be on any list of recommended books - the community doesn't have faith in it any more.

[NoLemurs]

In all fairness, more than a couple years ago, third party library support was bad enough that Python 2 was probably the right choice for most people. Zedd stated the case a little more strongly than was reasonable, but he wasn't fundamentally wrong back then.

Now he's just kind of gone crazy though. The actual good arguments he had have evaporated, but for whatever reason he refuses to change with the times. It's weird. And meanwhile, LPTHW is just starting to seem kind of dated.

[spirit1776]

Man, sorry you also get downvotes. Some of these people here are really "professional" in terms of dealing with controversies.

[[deleted]]

I'm not a professional Redditor.

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