[Python-Dev] Python launcher command line usage (Was: 3.2.1 encoding surprise) (original) (raw)

Mark Hammond skippy.hammond at gmail.com
Thu Jul 21 02:17:44 CEST 2011

On 21/07/2011 10:08 AM, Antoine Pitrou wrote:

On Thu, 21 Jul 2011 09:55:28 +1000 Mark Hammond<skippy.hammond at gmail.com> wrote:

> The two proposals overlap but are not mutually exclusive. For future pythons, 'python33' is easier to remember and type than 'py -v 3.3' or whatever the proposed encantation is. 'py -3.3' - less chars to type than 'python33' and with no need to have every Python directory on your PATH. IMO it is also simple enough that people will remember it fairly easily. Given that Python 2.x has a "-3" option, isn't "py -3.3" kind of confusing, at least to the eye?

A little, yeah, but IMO practicality beats purity here. I'd probably feel different if I felt 'python -3' was regularly used and would continue to be so in the future. Also, I think most people who would potentially use 'python -3' will be aware that running 'py' is a totally different command and will adjust accordingly (either by continuing to use 'python -3' or adjusting to running 'py -2 -3'.)

The PEP does make explicit mention of this...

Cheers,

Mark

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