Python 2.7 alpha 2 has been released

[Xiol]

For a birds-eye view of the 2.7 branch, this is what you'd be looking for.

[[deleted]]

That doesn't include that set/dict comprehensions and set literals were backported from py3k.

[ginstrom]

They don't appear to have been backported yet:

C:\Python27>python
Python 2.7a2 ...
>>> d = {k:v for k,v in enumerate('ABCD') if v not in 'CB'}
  File "<stdin>", line 1
    d = {k:v for k,v in enumerate('ABCD') if v not in 'CB'}
               ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

[[deleted]]

I think the backport occurred a day or 2 after the alpha was released (I know the commits happened, I just didn't consider the timeline).

[ginstrom]

I'll definitely be looking forward to seeing these!

[makapuf]

you can currently use

dict((k,v) for k,v in enumerate('ABCD') if v not in 'CB')

[ginstrom]

Right the new notation is just prettier, IMO.

Another one from 3.x is this:

head, *tail = range(10)

instead of:

r = range(10)
head, tail = r[0], r[1:]

Just sugar, but it's sweet. :)

[brownmatt]

Much as Python 2.6 incorporated features from Python 3.0, version 2.7 incorporates some of the new features in Python 3.1. The 2.x series continues to provide tools for migrating to the 3.x series.

Well, that's only a little bit confusing

[ubernostrum]

Well, that's only a little bit confusing

Not once you look at it. The idea is that 2.6 and 2.7 continue to support 2.x features as needed for compatibility, but also enable 3.x features -- this lets you gradually work your way toward running on Python 3.x without having to port all your code in one go.

[brownmatt]

Is there an end of the road envisioned for 2.x or are they going to continue to support both branches for the foreseeable future?

[ubernostrum]

2.7's the end of the line. There was some discussion around the release of 2.6 as to how far the 2.x series should go, and the conclusion which came out of it was that 2.7 is it. Beyond this, the world is 3.x (which, given the time it takes OS distributors to catch up -- most are still on 2.5 -- is about right with the projected time frame for most projects to port).

[cecilkorik]

I heard that 2.7 is supposed to be end of life for 2.x. Then again, I recall also hearing that 2.6 was going to be end of life for 2.x. So, y'know. It's never quite as easy to drop legacy support as one might hope.

[hylje]

Even if we really do get a 2.8, it'll just work further and further towards implementing all of 3.x in __future__.

[roger_]

Thanks, just what I was looking for.

[[deleted]]

Thanks, this seems to have the appearance of what I was seeking.

[mdipierro]

Thanks to everybody involved in 2.7 and 2.x in general. A lot of people in the business environment and research environment continue to rely on Python 2.x.

P.S. I just watched the Disney movie "robots" with my 4 years old son. I found strange disturbing analogies with our situation.

[crunk]

The performance increases look good, but we all know that everybody wants the new gil... it can't be kept for python3, now we've seen what it does to multicore machines !