Comments: Old Python Programs breaking

Isn't this a wxPython thing, to a large extent? I've lost count of how many "this version of the application only works with wxPython 2.4.328.13.1048" posts I've seen...

Posted by Fredrik at March 8, 2006 09:00 AM

I think it's related to wxPython, my good ol' programs work since I started programming with Python. Try using PyGTK next time.

Posted by Felipe at March 8, 2006 09:08 AM

You are generalising from wxPython to the whole python world quite falsely. Furthermore, my own experience with wxPython is that quite a lot of effort has been made to avoid code breakage across version changes.

Generally speaking the Python developers expend a lot of energy to maintain backward compatibility as the language develops. As a "fan of common sense" I should have thought you would have quoted examples of breakage. Otherwise the post is likely to be perceived as FUD.

Posted by Steve at March 8, 2006 09:14 AM

Yeah, my wxPython app is broken in different ways with each new wxPython release. I find the opposite with Python itself, however. The only issue I have ever had with pure Python was when they released the encoding support and it spat some warnings at me.

My experience with wxPython is that it pretty much breaks with every release. I haven't used it in awhile (for that reason). My current app is still stuck at wxPython 2.5.something because it just won't work with newer versions. Windows are completely different sizes, scrolling is all broken; they are fairly major problems I just don't have the time to deal with, so I'm avoiding upgrading.

Posted by Mark at March 8, 2006 09:54 AM

Thank you for the information. I am sure that all of you are right in saying that it is a wxPython thing. The instance that I wrote about can be considered a "use case" situation and not a generic comment about Python. However, if Python is indeed as solid as it seems, it wouldn't have problems standing up to various criticisms.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still a fan of the language.

Posted by Hoang at March 8, 2006 11:50 AM

That's why I switched from wxPython (somewhere at 2.2/2.4 breakdown era), first to PyQt, then to PyGTK.
While these libraries evolve, nothing breaks my programs in such bad way. Sure, there are some deprecation warnings at a time, but my code didn't broke.

Posted by zgoda at March 11, 2006 08:26 AM

If they break your software once, it might be a mistake. If they break it twice, it's intentional. If they break it thrice, it's because you didn't walk away.

Posted by Chui at March 11, 2006 05:03 PM