[Python-Dev] Status regarding Old vs. Advanced String Formating (original) (raw)

"Martin v. Löwis" martin at v.loewis.de
Sat Feb 25 11:20:51 CET 2012

I find that strange, especially for an expert Python dev. I, a newbie, find it far friendlier (and easier for a new programmer to grasp). Maybe it's because I use it all the time, and you don't?

That is most likely the case. You learn by practice. For that very reason, the claim "and easier for a new programmer to grasp" is difficult to prove. It was easier for you, since you started using it, and then kept using it. I don't recall any particular obstacles learning % formatting (even though I did for C, not for C++). Generalizing that it is easier is invalid: you just didn't try learning that instead first, and now you can't go back in a state where either are new to you.

C++ is very similar here: they also introduced a new way of output (iostreams, and << overloading). I used that for a couple of years, primarily because people said that printf is "bad" and "not object- oriented". I then recognized that there is nothing wrong with printf per so, and would avoid std::cout in C++ these days, in favor of std::printf (yes, I know that it does have an issue with type safety).

So I think we really should fight the impression that % formatting in Python is "bad", "deprecated", or "old-style". Having both may be considered a slight violation of the Zen, however, I would claim that neither formatting API are that obvious - AFAIR, the biggest hurdle in learning printf was to understand the notion of "placeholder", which I think is the reason why people are coming up with so many templating systems (templating isn't "obvious").

Regards, Martin

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